MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking a CB-CID probe into the death of a Scheduled Caste (SC) youth, who died under suspicious circumstances in Pudukkottai on April 23.
A vacation bench of the Madras High Court had passed an interim order last month, restraining the Pudukkottai police from filing final report in the case, following allegations that though it was a case of honour killing, the police were trying to rule out the case as suicide.
But a bench of Justices N Sathish Kumar and P Jothiraman observed on Friday that the petition would come under the criminal jurisdiction and not under the public interest litigation jurisdiction and dismissed it.
The district coordinator of Neelam Panpattu Maiyam of Pudukkottai, K Muruganandam, alleged in his petition that the deceased, R Hariharan (20), was in a consensual relationship with a caste Hindu girl and the couple had eloped in November 2025 but they were reunited by the police with their respective parents.
However, Muruganandam alleged that Hariharan was constantly receiving threats from the girl’s family after the incident.
On April 21, 2026, Hariharan reportedly left his house upon receiving a call from the girl, but did not return home.
His body was found in a quarry two days later with external injuries, Muruganandam alleged and sought a CB-CID probe into it.
(To overcome suicidal thoughts, contact state health department helpline 104 or Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline at 044-24640050.)
