Family suspects foul play, refuses to take charge of Dalit’s corpse

Relatives of a Dalit youth, who died of poisoning, refused to take charge of his body on the second day on Tuesday, alleging foul play.

S Sureshkumar, a resident of Thovali in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, was found in an unconscious state in a garden in Kattuputhur village, in which his beloved lived. The girl belongs to a higher caste. He was taken to a local hospital and later to the Government Medial College Hospital, where he died.

The girl’s family did not approve of their relationship and a complaint against Sureshkumar with the police. The police had summoned Sureshkumar and his family members to the police station in connection with the complaint. While his family turned up at the police station, there was no sign of Sureshkumar, upon which his family started looking out for him. It was then that they found him in the garden in an unconscious state.  

On Sureshkumar’s death, his family has alleged that the girl’s family members killed him, he being a Dalit. His brother Suman Ananath had said in a complaint that there were injuries in Sureshkumar’s neck and legs.

The police have denied this and have claimed that Sureshkumar consumed poison as the girl’s family had denied permission for their marriage.