TIRUNELVELI: The widow of a professor, who was murdered in 2018 by a gang, has demanded police protection for her family under the Witness Protection Scheme. Speaking to TNIE on Saturday, the woman, R Anusuya (35), claimed that the city police were delaying the protection despite an order by the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court.
"There was a land dispute between my father, C Rajkumar, and one Balamurugan. Rajkumar filed a civil suit in this connection. However, on behalf of Balamurugan, a notorious rowdy, Raja, alias Rocket Raja, threatened my father to withdraw the case. Since he refused to do so, a gang entered our house in search of my father and killed my husband, Senthil Kumar, who was a private engineering college professor. Acting on our request, the murder case was transferred from Tirunelveli to the Special Court for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Madurai. The next hearing is scheduled for Monday," Anusuya said.
Saying that her family was facing threats from the accused persons, Anusuya demanded police protection from the city police. "The Madurai bench of HC also gave a judgement in favour of us. The application under the scheme was filed by me on December 16, 2025. However, the police have refused to give us protection. Without protection, we fear appearing before the court for the trial," she added.
When contacted by TNIE, N Manivannan, Commissioner of Police, Tirunelveli city, said that police protection would be provided whenever Rajkumar appeared for the trial. "Since he has some criminal cases against him, we cannot give him armed police protection at his house," he added.