Mystery shrouds Dalit man's death, family smells foul play

Chennai, July 6: Ilavarasan, a 20-year-old Dalit man was found dead by the railway track in Dharmapuri district, triggering protests by the Dalit community here. Interestingly, the post-mortem report said that the boy had died of head injury and there were no severe marks or injuries on the body. The report also stated that he died 12 to 24 hours prior to the autopsy.

The family of the boy demanded a second post-mortem report, smelling foul play. The court, subsequently, directed to preserve the body of the boy and postponed any hearing related to the case till the autopsy report was out.

Ilavarasan was married to Divya, a girl from high-caste, which had triggered anti-Dalit violence in three different villages in Dharmapuri district in November 2012. Divya's parents too were against the marriage and her father also committed suicide.

On July 3, after appearing for a hearing in the Madras High Court, she repented the death of her father. She also said she did not want to live with her husband, but her mother. However, she denied any harassment from her in-laws and said that she did not have any problems with them.

However, things were different a week earlier. On July 1, Divya informed the court that she would go to her mother for the time being. Post this, Divya's mother filed a Habeas Corpus petition to produce her before the Court and set her at liberty.

The bench comprising Justices M Jayachandran and M Sunderesh directed that adequate protection be given to Divya's family. A petition was filed by S Jimraj Milton, Chennai branch secretary of Human Rights Protection Centre, seeking a direction to the state government to hand over the case to CBI for investigation into the death.

OneIndia News