Even two suspects in Sunday's public murder of Dalit youth V. Sankar were being questioned at Tirupur and Dindigul, the father of the victim’s wife reportedly surrendered before the Judicial Magistrate at Nilakottai in Dindigul district.
Tension continued on Monday at both Komaralingam, near Udumalpet, and the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH), where the victim's body has been kept for postmortem. The wife, Kausalya, is also undergoing treatment there.
At Komaralingam, relatives of the boy resorted to a road blockade for four hours demanding a compensation of Rs.10 lakh and a government job for Kausalya. Some people pelted stones at few shops in Komaralingam when the shop-owners reportedly did not down shutters as a mark of respect to Sankar.
Postmortem could not be performed on the body of Sankar (22) at the CMCH till Monday afternoon, as his family, friends and various organisations and political parties sought the arrest of the killers and others involved.
Efforts by the Udumalpet Police and the Coimbatore City Police to pacify the family and activists by updating them on the arrest and surrender of the accused were in vain. The family and protesters made it clear that they would cooperate for postmortem only after all the accused were arrested. Security was beefed up at the CMCH as the grieving family and agitated protesters threatened to block the road to condemn honour killings, especially involving Dalits.
Kausalya (19), who was badly injured in the brutal attack on Sunday evening, was being treated in the Intensive Care Unit of CMCH. Highly placed hospital sources said the girl suffered an injury on the forehead, caused by a sickle and a minor injury on her left hand. She did not suffer any other external or internal injury. Doctors said she was conscious and could talk. Hospital authorities said she was yet to recover from the shock. Police were guarding her to avoid attacks by her family or the agitated mob.
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