Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front, affiliated to CPI(M), has demanded a CB-CID enquiry into the deaths of an inter-caste couple — P. Kumar and R. Kavitha — whose bodies were found near a temple in Eriyur in Kallakurichi on Thursday last. The Front suspected that this could be yet another case of a Dalit and non-Dalit being killed for falling in love. In a report on the incident, it also said that the State Women’s Commission and National Commission for Scheduled Castes should unilaterally come forward to investigate this case.
According to the report, Kavitha belonged to the Vanniyar community while Kumar was a member of the Scheduled Caste. The report claimed that the girl’s father Ramalingam had given a statement that he did not suspect any foul play in her death. He had reached the place where her body was found based on information given by a resident in Eriyur.
The Front inferred that the father ruling out foul play in her death, was a ground for the police to probe the angle of suspected abetment of suicide. If caste was found to be the reason for the deaths, then “the government should take every effort to ensure that the accused get the highest possible punishment,” the report added.
