Member of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), M. Shivanna of Karnataka, will visit Dharmapuri town in Tamil Nadu on Saturday, to probe into the death of Dalit boy E. Ilavarasan, whose body was found near a railway track on Thursday afternoon, and submit a report to the Commission.
Stating this to The Hindu in New Delhi on Friday NCSC Chairman and Congress Lok Sabha member P.L. Punia added that the Commission would take up the case and fight it out till justice is done in the incident.
Reiterating that there could be foul play in Ilavarasan’s death, whose marriage with a Vanniya girl Divya during August last year had created unrest between the two castes resulting in violence and arson, Mr. Punia said circumstantial evidences pointed out that there could be something fishy in the youth’s death.
The girl, who married Ilavarasan against the wishes of her parents and her caste leaders, was lured back from the youth, just because he was a Dalit, to teach him a lesson, he alleged.
Mr. Punia pointed out that if Ilavarasan had jumped before a running express train, as claimed by the authorities, his body would have been cut into pieces, which was not seen in this case. Similarly the train would have halted on the spot to clear the body, and the driver would have informed the railway authorities. But there was no such report about these things so far, Mr. Punia said.
Mr. Punia, a former IAS officer, visited Dharmapuri district during November last year for an on the spot study after the Vanniya-Dalit violence, and also met the couple.
A few days ago, the girl Divya, told the Madras High Court that she did not want to stay with her husband Ilavarasan and instead wanted to go with her mother. The deceased was a recruit of the Tamil Nadu police and was waiting for his appointment order.