Tamil Nadu: Dindigul woman accused in murder of dalit leader Pasupathy Pandian beheaded

DINDIGUL: A 70-year-old woman accused in the murder of dalit leader C Pasupathy Pandian in 2012 was hacked to death and beheaded in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul on Wednesday morning. The murdered woman has been identified as P Nirmala Devi of Valluvar Nagar near Nanthavanapatti. The murderers took her head to the house of Pasupathy Pandian in Nanthavanapatti village and abandoned it below his poster on the gate. Pandian, who was the founder president of the Devendrakula Vellalar Kootamaipu, was hacked to death in his Nanthavanapatti house on January 10, 2012. The police had registered a case against 18 people, including Subash Pannaiyar, in connection with his death and trial is under way in a special court in Dindigul.Devi is the fifth person to be murdered by Pasupathy’s supporters to avenge the murder of their leader nine years ago. The four others who have been murdered to avenge the murder of Pasupathy Pandian are Pura Madasamy, Muthupandi, Batcha alias Madasamy and Sami alias Arumugasamy.On Wednesday morning, Devi was on her way to work under the national rural employment guarantee scheme when she was murdered. Devi was walking to Renganathapuram Road when she was waylaid by two men who came on a motorcycle. After attacking her multiple times, they beheaded her, leaving her dead in front of a shop.Deputy inspector general of police (DIG) for Dindigul Range B Vijayakumari and superintendent of police for Dindigul district V R Srinivasan visited the scene of crime and conducted preliminary inquiries.Srinivasan told TOI that six special teams had been formed to nab the accused. The murderers, while fleeing after abandoning her head, met with an accident. The two-wheeler hit a pedestrian. As an argument broke out, the duo abandoned the two-wheeler and fled the scene on two-wheelers brought by their accomplices. Police said that they traced the owner of the motorcycle and that he was unaware of his vehicle had been used for the crime.This is the third incident of revenge murder and beheadings in the southern districts in the last 10 days. On Monday last, K Sankarasubramanian, 37, of Keezha Seval Nainarkulam in Tirunelveli district was beheaded by a gang and his head was abandoned at the grave of a dalit murdered in 2013. This was followed by the counter beheading of A Mariappan, 37, a dalit, two days later. His head was placed at the spot where Sankarasubramanian was beheaded.