A few weeks ago, Alagesan had apparently come to Aswini’s home, tied her hands, gagged her and tied the thali on her. He then declared that he had married her, Aswini’s relatives said.
After the incident, Aswini and her mother lodged a complaint with the police on February 16. When the police secured Alagesan, Aswini’s mother M. Shankari herself requested the police not to take any action to remand the accused in custody.
According to the complaint by Aswini, she was friends with Alagesan for two years and had accepted his proposal for marriage. After finding that his condition was unsuitable for marriage, she decided to break up.
However, he continued to harass her, she said in the complaint. As a result, the police recorded it in the community service register and warned Alagesan not to harass her.
One of the relatives of Aswini said her mother was unwilling to disclose the information to relatives, fearing retribution. “She had informed one of the neighbours about the incident that happened in her home. Alagesan had reportedly visited Aswini’s home in the guise of distributing bottled drinking water. He then tied the thali,” said K. Viswanathan, a relative.
Reprieve misplaced
K. Sudhakar, another close relative, said: “Relatives were concerned about the family after Aswini's father Mohan died in an accident at a construction site in 2006. We were determined to educate our girl children. We would have prevented the crime had we known about Alagesan and his advances earlier. We would have advised Alagesan’s family members also,” says Mr. Sudhakar.
Classmates of Aswini and college students who gathered in large numbers at her home for the funeral staged a protest demanding that the police should prevent a TV channel from airing footage of a cultural event in which Aswini and a few students of the Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research had participated. The police led by inspector George Miller intervened immediately and resolved the issue and the students dispersed within a few minutes.
College students who gathered at the funeral on Saturday said they suspected the role of a few of the friends of Alagesan also in the murder of Aswini.
“How did the murderer know that she would take the new route to return home? College students were so furious and were planning to punish the murderer at the spot. But the police dispersed us. The ambulance was also late and most of the onlookers were just recording the scene on their mobile phone. As a result, Aswini did not receive any first aid. She was kept in the parking lot of a hospital near MGR Nagar Market and not even taken inside. We will organise a protest on Monday,” said a student.
Earlier on Saturday after the post-mortem at the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, Aswini’s mother Shankari requested the media to stop airing reports claiming that her daughter received money from Alagesan. “There are reports in the media that the accused paid the fees for my daughter’s education. I have paid the entire fee of ₹27,000 for her college education,” said Ms. Shankari, who managed to find a job as maid, earning ₹3,000 per month.
Advocate A. Edinbrough, who won the case for compensation for Aswini’s father after his death at the construction site, said a part of the ₹3.96 lakh received as compensation was used for educating Aswini.
“There was no need for any financial support from Alagesan for Aswini,” said Mr. Edinbrough.
At the funeral
At the funeral procession from Maduravoyal to Porur, distraught residents and students sobbed, screamed and protested against misleading reports by certain sections of the media, demanding action against those responsible for the murder of Aswini. Some women even visited the street of Alagesan and warned of retribution.
Police personnel were stationed at the neighbourhood to prevent any law and order problem.
A team led by Minister P. Benjamin visited the neighbourhood on Saturday, talking to people in a bid to reduce tension.
PMK seeks decisive action
PMK founder S. Ramadoss on Saturday demanded decisive action to prevent cases of stalking.
Despite its draconian nature, Dr. Ramadoss said that Goondas Act could be used against those who did not stop stalking women.
Reiterating that the PMK had constantly called for a stop to crimes such as stalking and violence against women, Dr. Ramadoss said, “If stalking crimes are dealt with in a firm manner, many of these cases can be prevented.”
