MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday summoned the Sivaganga collector, seeking an explanation for rejecting the application for compassionate appointment submitted by the wife of one of the victims of Katchanatham caste killings in Sivaganga.
Three persons belonging to the Scheduled Caste were killed on the spot while eight others had sustained severe injuries which took place on May 28, 2018. The petitioner D Sridevi said her husband Dhanasekaran was one of the injured persons. He was hospitalised for nearly one-and-a-half years before succumbing on January 16, 2020, Sridevi claimed, adding that her elder son was also assaulted and suffered 40% physical disability.
Though the attackers were convicted and her son received Rs 5.25 lakh as compensation, the amount was not even enough to meet their medical expenses, Sridevi said. Citing the loss of one breadwinner and the struggle of the other due to the disability caused by the incident, she requested compassionate appointment for her younger son and compensation for her husband’s death.
The high court, in her earlier petition on the matter, had directed the collector to consider her representation. However, the collector rejected her application last month, citing that she had not produced her husband’s postmortem certificate to prove that he died due to the injury suffered during the incident, Sridevi alleged, and sought the court’s intervention.
Justice Battu Devanand, who heard the petition, directed the collector to appear before the court and adjourned the case to April 21.