Villagers of Anaikaraipatti staged a protest alleging “police torture” caused the death of a 20-year-old youth, K. Ramesh, who was found dead in nearby Vazhaithoppu under Saptur police station limits on Thursday morning.
The villagers squatted on the road and alleged that the youth, belonging to a Scheduled Caste community, had died due to torture by Saptur police who had been enquiring him in connection with a girl missing case for the past one month.
Police said that elder brother of Ramesh, Idhayakani, 25, had reportedly eloped with a relative girl on August 23. “Since the girl was a minor, her father has been putting pressure on the police to trace her. The police have been conducting enquiry with the family members,” Superintendent of Police Sujit Kumar said.
“The youth had gone to the police station on Wednesday evening for enquiry, but did not return home. He was found hanging from a tree in the early hours of Thursday,” said Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front functionary T. Chellakannu.
Around 300 villagers sat around the body that was found on the foothills of Western Ghats and sought action against a Sub-Inspector of Police for harassment.
However, Mr. Sujit said he police team had gone to the house and enquired the woman and son on Wednesday evening. “Since, the other brother, Santosh, was not present at home, our men asked all three of them to appear in the station on Thursday morning and left for the station leaving behind both the mother and son at home. We have confirmed this with a CCTV footage that showed that only the three police personnel had returned and the youth was not with them on their bikes,” he added.
Besides, except for an old wound, the body had no fresh injuries, he said.
After Deputy Inspector General of Police (Madurai Range) S. Rajendiran and Superintendent of Police held talks with the protesters, the body was taken to Usilampatti Government Hospital in the afternoon.
While the protesters sought registration of first information report against the police personnel, a case of suspicious death under Section 174 of Code of Criminal Procedure has been registered.
After an inquest by the Revenue Divisional Officer, the post-mortem was conducted.
“Based on the RDO enquiry and post-mortem reports, further course of investigation will be decided,” Mr. Sujit Kumar said.
Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline ‘104’ and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044 24640050.
