A 20-year-old Dalit man belonging to the Paraiyar community died by suicide on December 23, a day after he was taken into police custody over an alleged theft complaint. The incident happened in Surappattu of Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu.
According to the victim’s parents, their son – Raja – was passing the Vanniyar street in his village dominated by upper-caste Hindus. An elderly man who was sitting, started choking and requested water.
To help the senior citizen, Raja knocked at one of the doors of a Vanniyar man named Murthy. Offended that a Dalit man had the courage to enter the streets prohibited for them, the 45-year-old started abusing and hurling casteist slurs at Raja, the Dalit family alleged.
“Parapayal like you should not come to my house and street,” Murthy said. This led to an argument between the two and soon Raja was surrounded and beaten up by Vanniyar men.
Later, reports said that Raja was arrested by the police on a false bike theft complaint. According to the family’s version, the police took Raja into custody and reportedly tortured him. He was left after police threatened to file more cases against his family, Raja’s parents alleged.
Soon after being released from police custody, an injured but humiliated Raja died by suicide at his home. His aggrieved parents have refused to hand over the body demanding justice and strict punishment against the Vanniyars who filed the false complaint in the first place.
Siasat.com spoke to the Villupuram Superintendent of Police Dr N Shreenatha who rubbished the information and stated the allegations were false.
“On the night of December 21, Raja and two of his friends attempted to steal a bike from Murthy’s house. Murthy saw this and both entered into a fight. However, the fight was resolved and no arrests were made,” the senior officer told Siasat.com.
He added that Raja was humiliated by the incident and hence died by suicide on December 23.
“Raja’s father has lodged a complaint and Murthy has been charged with the SC/ST Act and Section 306 of the IPC (Abetment of suicide).” the SP said.
When asked about Raja’s parents refusing to hand over the body and demanding justice for their son, the senior police officer said that the body is currently in the mortuary and the parents are demanding compensation.
“There is no police angle involved,” the SP said.
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