Murder: Kovilpatti Veeralakshmi’s daughter demands CB-CID probe

MADURAI: The daughter of Kovilpatti Veeralakshmi has filed a petition in the bench seeking a CB-CID probe into the alleged murder of her grandfather and aunt. The duo was burnt to death in their hut recently. Veeralakshmi, a brave woman who was battling untouchability in a village, was brutally assaulted and murdered by policemen. Later, her story was depicted in a movie that saw Simran in the lead. A Azhagurajeswari of Sattur said that on September 3, her grandfather, Chinna Ramachandran, and her aunt Jayapradha were set ablaze and at their thatched house near Sattur. Ramachandran (60),a temporary worker of the Tamil Nadu Water andDrainage Board, and his daughter Jayapradha (30), a resident of Ammer Palyam,were found dead in their house, totally destroyed by fire, with hack injuriesall over their bodies. Both of them were working as cattle grazers. They werestaying in the cow shed, where their bodies were found. Local people saw thecorpses and alerted the police, who went with sniffer dogs to inspect the scene.But the police claim they could not get any concrete evidence about theincident.The postmortem report stated that both were killed beforethe hut was set afire. “The local people did not notice the incident whileit happened because the duo stayed 2 km away from the village. The villagerstold us that they knew about the incident only the next morning,” a policeofficial said. Though the police have registered a case, they have not arrestedanyone. The suspected accused are wealthy persons and belong to a dominantcaste. The police officers are alleged to be torturing the complainant and heraunts in the name of an inquiry. Justice R Sudhakar, before whom thematter came up for hearing, directed the Superintendent of Police to considerher representation and file a report by September 21.