Chennai techie murder: CM Jayalalithaa holds meeting to review law and order in TN

Four days after Swathi was murdered, the Tamil Nadu government has finally decided to look into the matter.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa held an emergency meeting with the DGP to review the law and order situation in the state.

Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa holds an emergency meeting with the DGP regarding law & order situation in the state.

— ANI (@ANI) June 28, 2016

Meanwhile, the victim’s father, Santhanagopalakrishnan, has said that his family is now afraid of stepping out of the house, as reported by the news channel India Today.

“We have much confidence in Chennai police. I think they will find the culprit and produce him before a court of law,” said Santhanagopalakrishnan. He rued that his daughter’s body remained at the Nungambakkam station, where she was found murdered on last Friday, for two and a half hours and where “passengers remained mute witnesses”.

“Swathi, was a very tender-hearted girl and wanted to donate her organs. If we had her organs, we would have given it to people in need. And looking at them, I could have told myself she is still alive, with us…” said the father to  NDTV .

S Swathi , a 24-year-old Infosys employee was hacked to death at Nungambakkam railway station in Chennai on 24 June at 6.30 am. She was waiting to board a train to work, when a young man approached her. He then got into a heated argument with her and then attacked her with a sickle.

The BJP’s state unit staged a protest demanding justice for Swathi. The party’s state unit president Tamilisai Sounderrajan and other senior leaders participated in the protest held at Valluvar Kottam.

Congress national Spokesperson Khushbu Sundar called on the family of the victim and consoled them. The actor-turned-politician visited Swathi’s residence at Choolaimedu. She later told reporters that the issue should not be politicised, “although there are some lapses on part of the government” such as absence of CCTV camera in the station. Khushbu also regretted that no passengers had come forward to help the victim. They could have even called an ambulance, she said.

Even if one of them had taken a picture or a video of the alleged attacker on their mobile phone, it would have helped in identifying him, Khushbu said, adding that people should come forward in such incidents to help the victim or overpower the attacker. She also expressed concern over what she termed as “speculation” on social media and platforms over the motive behind the killing.

The police had come under criticism as no headway has been made in the case so far, although cops had released CCTV images of a suspect.

The Madras High Court had also come down on the state government, warning it of suo motu intervention if there was any negligence in the probe.

The court asked the police: “Where were your police officers? Swathi’s body was lying like an exhibition for two hours. Even the dead have got right to dignity under the Constitution,” reported NDTV.

The state government had subsequently transferred the investigation of the case from the Government Railway Police to the city police on Monday.

With inputs from PTI