Dalit youth Ilavarasan found dead

DHARMAPURI INTER-CASTE MARRIAGE:

Body found near railway track in Dharmapuri

In a tragic denouement to a story of love frustrated by caste bigotry, Dalit youth E. Ilavarasan, whose marriage to a Vanniyar girl led to caste tension in Tamil Nadu last year, was found dead near a railway track here on Thursday afternoon.

The 19-year-old youth’s death came a day after his wife Divya categorically disowned her marriage and ruled out returning to him, sparking speculation that he had committed suicide out of dejection by jumping before a train.

  Grieving relatives of Ilavarasan surround his body near the railway track in Dharmapuri on Thursday.

His body was found near the track behind the Dharmapuri Government Arts College. It was speculated that Ilavarasan, who hails from Natham Colony in Naikkankottai village in Dharmapuri, jumped before the Kurla Express bound for Mumbai from Coimbatore. Police sources said the youth was believed to have come to the spot around 12.30 p.m. on a motorcycle and sat for some time near the track.

It was alleged that he jumped before the train between 1 p.m. and 1.30 p.m. Eyewitnesses said he had suffered a fatal head injury and his hand seemed to be fractured.

There was no report of any suicide note. The bag near the body contained three letters he had exchanged with Ms. Divya during 2011.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ilavarasan’s father T. Elango and his mother claimed that it could not be a suicide, as his son had sought to console them after the recent developments. He had also told them that he was going to Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh for work. His relatives suspected foul play, wondering whether he was murdered and his body thrown on the track. Mr. Ilavarasan had withdrawn Rs. 9,000 using his father’s ATM card in the morning.

E. Ilavarasan, the Dalit boy whose marriage to a Vanniyar girl triggered violence in three villages of Dharmapuri district in November 2012, was found dead along a railway track in Dharmapuri on Thursday

On Wednesday, Ms. Divya told reporters in the Madras High Court campus that she had no intention of returning to her husband, whom she had left earlier this month following caste tension between her Vanniyar community and Dalits.

Their marriage was sought to be used by the Pattali Makkal Katchi for a campaign that marriages involving Dalit boys and non-Dalit brides in Tamil Nadu were part of a larger design to lure girls from other castes with a view to extorting money.

Ms. Divya’s father committed suicide last November amidst taunts by his community members for letting her marry a Dalit youth. Following his death, houses were ransacked and torched in Natham, Anna Nagar and Kondampatti Colonies in Naikkankottai village on November 7, 2012.

Ilavarasan’s body shifted to GH amid protests:

Kin raise slogans calling upon police to bring culprits to book

The body of Ilavarasan was shifted at 5.30 p.m. to Government Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital for post-mortem, after the police overcame resistance and protests from his family members.

Collector R. Lilly visited the hospital in the evening. Family members, relatives and residents of Natham colony raised slogans demanding the government to book the culprits behind the death of Ilavarasan.

Railway police have registered a case of suspicious death under section 174 Cr PC on the basis of a complaint by the Village Administrative Officer. Autopsy would be conducted on Friday morning.

Prohibitory orders

As news of Ilavarasan’s death spread, prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Cr.PC were clamped in the entire district. Police forces were deployed in caste-sensitive areas of Dharmapuri, Viluppuram, Cuddalore and Tiruvannamalai districts.

The Armed Reserve Police and Tamil Nadu Special Police (TSP) battalions were mobilised and picketing was posted in sensitive areas in the district.

Bus service suspended

TNSTC suspended bus services to remote and interior pockets of the districts in the evening as a precautionary measure.

Police sources said that over 500 police personnel were drafted for deployment across the district from Salem, Krishnagiri and Namakkal.

Three companies of TSP (including a women’s battalion) from Coimbatore and Pochampalli in Krishnagiri district were also deployed in the district.

Train driver’s evidence could be crucial:

Railway Police investigating the death of E. Ilavarasan, whose body was found on the railway track in Dharmapuri, will examine the driver of the Coimbatore-Mumbai Kurla Express. Amid reports that the victim came under the wheels of the train, investigators have sought to question the driver from the Bangalore Division (South-Western Railway), police sources said on Thursday.

“We want to check whether the driver saw Ilavarasan coming before the train. If so, it will be pertinent to know the train’s speed at that time and the action taken by the driver following the run-over. As there is a suspicion of foul play, we will investigate whether the victim was seen alone,” a senior police official told The Hindu.

Investigators will analyse Ilavarasan’s mobile phone records for July 4 to track his movement hours before his death. “We will try to track his location since morning.” The Railway Police have registered a case under Section 174 (unnatural death) of Cr.PC.