The murder of a SC youth who is suspected to have helped his friend belonging to the same community elope with a caste Hindu girl in June drew strong protests from villagers of Sakkimangalam bringing traffic to a halt in front of the Government Rajaji Hospital for over two hours on Wednesday.
Around 150 villagers, including women, staged a road roko in front of the hospital demanding arrest of those responsible for the killing of R Muthumanickam (23) on Tuesday.
The villagers, who had gathered at the GRH, where the youth’s body was kept, refused to accept it and resorted to a road blockade on the arterial Panagal Road from around noon.
The protesters, led by an advocate Baskaran, demanded Rs. 10 lakh compensation to the family of Muthumanickam, who was hacked to death at Sakkimangalam for helping Parthiban, a Dalit, elope with a caste Hindu girl.
The armed gang waylaid Muthumanickam who was riding a motorbike along with two other friends, C. Muneeswaran and P. Soundarapandi, and attacked them with lethal weapons. While Muneeswaran escaped unhurt, Soundarapandi sustained head injuries.
The protesters also wanted to re-locate the caste Hindus out of Sakkimangalam. They claimed that the caste Hindus were from Theerthakadu, who were rehabilitated in Sakkimangalam, following an eviction a couple of years ago.
The Revenue Divisional Officer (Madurai), Senthilkumari, and Additional Superintendent of Police, Karthikeyan, tried to pacify the agitators. However, they dispersed without taking possession of the body.
