Gang attacks mother of man killed over inter-caste marriage

Murugesan and wife were murdered in 2003

S. Chinnapillai, the mother of S. Murugesan, who was killed along with his wife D. Kannagi in 2003 over their inter-caste marriage, was allegedly attacked by a group of men near her house in Kuppanatham in Cuddalore district on Thursday.

Vriddachalam police have registered a case.

Ms. Chinapillai is recuperating at the government hospital in Vriddhachalam.

While the seven men accused in the FIR belonged to the same Scheduled Caste (SC) community as Ms. Chinnapillai, her family alleged that the attack was motivated by the recent court verdict on the killing of Murugesan and Kannagi, who belonged to the Vanniyar caste, a Most Backward Community (MBC).

Last month, the Special Court for cases filed under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in Cuddalore awarded the death sentence to Kannagi’s brother and life imprisonment to 12 others, including her father, for the brutal killing of Kannagi and Murugesan.

Verbal abuse

S. Sundara Pandiyan, another son of Ms. Chinnapillai, alleged that the men hurled verbal abuse while attacking his mother for sending Kannagi’s family members and others belonging to the Vanniyar community to jail in the murder case. “These men, like many other people from my community in the village, are dependent on the Vanniyar community in Puthukooraipettai for livelihood. They still consider them their masters and act on their instigation,” he alleged. Kannagi’s family was from Puthukooraipettai village.

S. Mahalakshmi, Ms. Chinnapillai’s daughter, said the attack was part of the troubles faced by the family ever since the murder of Kannagi and Murugesan. “It has become worse after the verdict in the case,” she said.

Senior advocate P. Rathinam, who supported the family in fighting the murder case, blamed the Vriddachalam police for failing to properly register the recent case. “While attacking her, the men verbally abused Chinnapillai by blaming her and her family for sending their ‘masters’ to jail. Though this was mentioned in the complaint, it was excluded from the FIR, as including it would have necessitated invoking the provisions of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,” he argued.