Dharmapuri violence: Dalit boy who married higher caste girl found dead

Dharmapuri (TN): A Dalit boy, whose marriage to a caste Hindu girl triggered anti-Dalit violence in three villages of the district in November last, was found dead along a railway track, a day after his wife said she would never go back to him. The body of E Ilavarasan of Natham colony in Naickenkottai was found along the railway track behind the government arts college yesterday morning, police said. The death of Ilavarasan triggered tension in Naickenkottai with Dalit residents of the village thronging Government Medical College hospital where his body has been kept. Police clamped prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC and posted armed personnel in sensitive areas, including that of caste Hindu localities, of Naickenkottai. Bus services had been suspended to the villages as a precautionary measure, police said. [caption id=“attachment_930533” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ilavarasan in this file photo with his lawyers. Firstpost[/caption] District Superintendent of Police Asra Garg said Raliway police, who registered a case based on information from the local station master, were conducting an inquiry and it was too early to say if there was any foul play. Relatives of Ilavarasan and residents of the colonies blocked road traffic in front of the hospital alleging that he had been murdered by caste Hindus. The parents of the boy demanded a proper inquiry, saying their son would not have committed suicide. A police team led by DSP Parameswara rushed to the spot along with Swift Action Force and persuaded the protesters to disperse, police said. The death of the boy came barely hours after his wife Divya last evening said she would never go back to him and would live with her mother. After appearing for a hearing in the Madras High Court in a habeas corpus petition by her mother, the girl said she had been under tremendous pressure all along and was unable to forget her father who committed suicide over her marriage. A bench comprising Justices M Jayachandran and M Sunderesh had reserved orders on the petition for 5 July. Her marriage and her father’s sucide triggered violence in the three villages of Natham, Kondamapatty and Annanagar on 7 November last when about 296 huts belonging to Dalits were torched allegedly by the caste Hindus. [embedalsosee] Ninety persons were arrested a day after the incident and cases registered against another 500 unnamed persons. Several writ petitions were filed in the Madras High Court which ordered a probe into rehabilitation measures by a committee headed by IAS officer Vaski who submitted a 5000-page report to the court recently. PTI