Dalit man brutally murdered with iron rods over 'broken tap'

A 21-year-old Dalit man was murdered in Tamil Nadu by three high caste Hindus, allegedly for breaking a plastic tap in their fields. The incident is said to have on Saturday. The deceased, Kathiresan, is also said to have been the target of the three men since he married an upper class Hindu woman. Hailing from Thirupanjili village in Trichy district, Kathiresan was working as an auto driver and was also a champion of social causes in his village. 

According to a report by the Quint, the men barged in Kathiresan's house at around 6:30 am and started hurling abuses at him while searching for him. The men kept on blaming him for breaking a tap in their fields. When they found him, they tied him and took him to the market where they hit him with an iron rod. When his mother and wife pleaded them to have mercy, they said that they are taking him to the police station. But instead, they took him to their fields and murdered him there. Police later found his body in their field.

Eyewitnesses said that there were 15 people in all who hit him repeatedly. The accused Thangarasu (57), and his two sons Suresh (37) and Baskar (30) kept on telling the victim that being married to a high-caste woman does not make him equal to them.

The Manachanallur police said that an FIR has been filed in the case under the Sections 294 (b) (singing, reciting or uttering obscene song, ballad or words in public), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (iii) (criminal intimidation), and 302 (relating to murder) of the IPC, as well as multiple sections of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Amendment Act 2015. An investigation is also underway.

Kathiresan was married to Nandhini, who belongs to the Kallar community, about five months ago. Both of them have been living with Kathiresan's family since then. 

• tamil nadu
• south