Eight persons were arrested in connection with the death of a man in Tuesday’s group clash near Thally lake on Wednesday. Police are on the lookout for one more person.
The clash occurred between a group of caste Hindus and Dalits over a Dalit youth eloping with a minor caste Hindu girl.
The girl’s paternal uncle died in the clash. Those arrested were related to the Dalit youth.
The Thally police registered cases against them under Sections 302 (murder), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 366 (A) (procuration of minor girl) of Indian Penal Code and Section 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012.
Judicial custody
They were produced before the Denkanikottai Judicial Magistrate and remanded in judicial custody for 15 days. Later, they were lodged in the Salem Central Prison.
Hospital sources said the group clash victim, V. Madhesan (45), died of injuries on the head and back. The post-mortem report is awaited.
Police said that the body was handed over to members of his family amid tight security. It was buried at Thallikothanur on the Thalli-Denkanikottai Road in the evening.
The police took the girl to the Government Hospital for a medical check-up.
Pattali Makkal Katchi functionaries and cadre staged a demonstration in front of the Government Taluk Hospital for over an hour demanding action against those responsible for the death of the girl’s uncle.
Former Dharmapuri MP R. Senthil Kumar and former Kaveripattinam MLA T. Meganathan visited the victim’s residence at Thallikothanur and extended support for the family.
But, the family members refused to accept support on caste lines.
B.C. Nanjappan, Communist Party of India district secretary said the party opposed the caste-based politics of the PMK. Police pickets were strengthened at Thallikothanur, apprehending trouble during the funeral, but everything ended peacefully, police said.
G. K. Mani's view
G.K. Mani, President, Pattali Makkal Katchi, in a release issued in Dharmapuri said the Thally murder was fallout of the love affair and questioned the stand of political parties supporting inter-caste love marriages in the State.
