Salem: The officials of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Tribes conducted a probe into the mysterious death of a Dalit youth, which had sparked communal tension in Salem district.
The engineering graduate, Gokulraj, was found dead on the railway track with his head severed from his body at Pallipalayam near Tiruchengode in Namakkal district on June 24 afternoon.
As the boy belonged to a Dalit family in Omalur in Salem, his death triggered tension in the district. Dalit activists and the boy’s family alleged that it was a case of murder as he was said to be in love an upper caste girl.
On June 23, Gokulraj went to a temple along with his lover, Swathi. At the temple, a gang had snatched his mobile phone and kidnapped him, the girl had informed Gokulraj’s elder brother.
To ascertain the claims of Gokulraj’s family, the SC/ST Commission’s Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry’s assistant director, P. Ramasamy, research officer, C. Chandraprabha and investigating officer, A. Iniyan visited the temple and watched the footage of the CCTV recordings at the temple premises.
After viewing the footage, Ramasamy told the media that they had viewed Gokulraj’s entry into the temple at 10.52 am on June 23 and exit at 11.57 am.
The panel has recommended to the national commission to provide compensation to the family of Gokulraj as a sum of Rs 7.50 lakh should be given to the victim’s family in case of death due to untouchability crimes.
As Gokulraj was working, about 75 per cent of the compensation amount should be given immediately. The culprits would be nabbed after obtaining the post mortem report, the assistant director said. Meanwhile, the family of Gokulraj refused to receive the body until the culprits are nabbed.
Dalit activists belonging to Viduthalai Chiruthaigal party claimed that it was an honour killing as Gokulraj’s lover, Swathi’s family had hired goons and eliminated him as they did not want their upper caste daughter to marry a Dalit boy.
