Pudukkottai: District police have recommended a relief of ₹6 lakh for the family of a 20-year-old dalit youth who was found dead in a quarry pit in Pudukkottai under suspicious circumstances more than two months ago.
On April 23, R Hariharan of Nadupatti near Thirumalairayapuram was found dead in a quarry in Vellanur. Police initially registered a case under Section 184 of the BNSS as a suspicious death. However, after the man’s family alleged foul play and claimed that he was murdered by the family of a woman from a different caste with whom he was in a relationship, police altered the case to Section 108 of the BNS read with Section 3(2) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
In the action taken report (ATR) submitted by district superintendent of police Ravindra Kumar Gupta to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), it is mentioned that the social justice and human rights (SJ&HR) wing police has been asked to disburse 50% of the relief under the SC/ST Act. The report added that the relief is yet to be distributed as a legal heir certificate from the deceased’s father is awaited.
The report also stated that the accused woman was arrested and remanded in judicial custody on June 2, while her father, her brother and another man were named as accused in the case. Statements from the family members were recorded, call records were analysed, and digital devices were seized. Meanwhile, the postmortem report stated that there were no external injuries on the body and it was decomposed as it remained in water for three days, the ATR report said, and added that further investigation is on.
K Muruganatham of Neelam Cultural Centre said, “We welcome police’s move to ensure transparency by providing the ATR, which has not happened in the past. However, the man’s parents feel that police should arrest other family members involved in the case and interrogate them.”
Courtesy : TOI
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