The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday sought a counter affidavit from the State in the case of alleged murder of a Scheduled Caste temple priest in Pudukkottai district by a group of caste Hindus.
Justice G. Ilangovan directed the State to file a counter in the petition, filed by K. Villayi, wife of temple priest Karuppaiah, seeking a re-postmortem of the body and a CB-CID probe into the incident.
The court was informed that pursuant to its earlier order, a re-postmortem was conducted by a team of experts comprising doctors and forensic experts from Government Pudukkottai Medical College Hospital. The last rites of the deceased were performed, the court was told.
The petitioner said her husband, the priest of a Kali temple in Theeyathur, was attacked by a group of caste Hindus after he offered them ‘vibhuti’ in hand on June 16. The group had questioned Karuppaiah over offering ‘vibhuti’ in hand instead of placing it on the archanai plate.
She said the caste Hindus attacked him as he had touched them. It was said that both the groups lodged police complaints against each other. A peace committee meeting was held, but it ended inconclusively. Under these circumstances, the petitioner said, her husband went missing from their home on August 14, and the next day, he was found hanging from a tree.
The petitioner said Karuppaiah’s body bore injury marks and it was not a case of suicide. She alleged that her husband was murdered due to caste animosity. The court adjourned the hearing.
