Dharmapuri hospital choked with Dalits

Prohibitory orders in force do not deter them from thronging the town

Dalits from far and near gathered in large numbers at Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital on Friday, where the body of Ilavarasan was kept for post-mortem. His body was found along the railway track on Thursday.

Ilavarasan’s marriage with a Vanniyar girl Divya led to her father’s suicide and caste tension in November last year. The girl, who was living with her husband, appeared before the Madras High Court in response to a habeas corpus petition filed by her mother, chose to go back with her mother and ruled out re-union with the husband.

The hospital and its surroundings were choked with crowds since late on Thursday evening. Clamping of prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code did not deter the people from coming to Dharmapuri town.

Dalits from the three colonies of Natham, Anna Nagar and Kondampatti in Naikkankottai village, which bore the brunt of mob fury that destroyed their houses and belongings on the fateful evening of November 7, 2012, were also at the hospital.

“We have lost everything in the violence only for the sake of the young couple for which we never regretted. But today we regret. All our sacrifices and the hard endeavours of the socially conscious people to make them live together have gone in vain. Everything has gone with his death,” said Palanisamy of Natham colony to which Ilavarasan’s family also belongs to.

Many of those who lost everything in the arson and looting were neither relatives nor friends of Ilavarasan.

“We supported him and his family to defeat the casteist forces. But unfortunately the boy became the victim in this foul play,” said S. Santhosh (23) of Anna Nagar.

Ilavarasan’s father T. Elango told The Hindu that his son recovered from the initial shock after Divya told reporters on the Madras High Court campus that she did not want to live with Ilavarasan hereafter. “He even consoled us. He said he would get a job and look after them.”

Later, he left for Dharmapuri town on his motorbike. “A policeman called me and told me that my boy was dead,” he said.

Shocked parties demand probe into Dalit youth's death:

Political parties in Tamil Nadu on Friday expressed concern over the death of a Dalit youth, whose marriage to higher caste girl triggered anti-Dalit violence in three villages of Dharmapuri district in November last, and demanded a proper probe into the matter.

CPI-M expressed shock and grief over Ilavarasan's death, saying he had paid the price for getting married transcending caste with his life.

Party's state unit secretary G. Ramakrishnan said the girl's decision to part ways with her husband should be seen as having been taken based on the "casteist/social compulsions" and that the death had posed many questions.

"Government and police should investigate the matter (his death) and find out the truth," he said in a statement.

MDMK leader Vaiko also expressed shock over Ilavarasan's death and said that his wife Divya's decision to end her relationship with him was prompted by the strains caused between two communities following their marriage.

He demanded a judicial probe into the death and steps to protect the girl.

BJP state unit president Pon. Radhakrishnan said that government should convene a meeting of heads of various communities to ensure social harmony and sought a probe into Ilavarasan's death.

Ilavarasan was found dead near a railway track on Thursday, a day after his wife had said she would never go back to him and would stay with her mother.

The incident had caused widespread anger in the state.