Tamil Nadu Dalit youth murdered; protestors stage road roko in Ramanathapuram

Ramanathapuram: Residents of Mugilthagam in Thondi police limits and members of Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front on Monday (July 15) staged a road roko in front of the government district headquarters hospital. The residents protested the murder of a 23-year-old man named Ajith Kumar who belonged to the Dalit community.

They believed that he was in love with a woman from another Scheduled Caste community with whom his community do not forge alliances. The protestors also alleged that the murder was a case of ‘honour killing’.

Traffic was disrupted for about half-an-hour as the residents and Front members squatted on the road demanding that the police book the accused under the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of atrocities) Act, and award compensation to the family.

Ajith Kumar, an auto-rickshaw driver employed in a petrol pump, went missing on Saturday evening after taking leave for three days. He was found hacked to death at Manjakarichan Oorani, near coastal Nambuthalai on Sunday (July 14). Thondi police registered a case under Section 302 and launched a hunt for the accused.

Ruling out ‘honour killing’ and involvement of the girl’s family in the murder, superintendent of police (SP) Omprakash Meena said police had identified two or three suspects in the case and they would be apprehended soon.

The murder, believed to have taken place after a drunken brawl, and the motive would be known after the arrest of the accused.