CHENNAI: The Tiruchy police on Sunday remanded two men in connection with the murder of a 21-year-old college student, a month earlier.
The accused, identified as Prathap and Karthikeyan, confessed to the police that they had stabbed the student after they found him sitting with his girlfriend in a forest area near their village, in Siruganur.
The victim, Tamilvanan, was a student of K. Ramakrishnan College of Engineering in Tiruchy.. On January 14, he and his girlfriend, a nursing student in the same area, had gone to Siruganur to spend some time together around 7 pm. But, local goons who spotted them, confronted them and in the altercation stabbed Tamilvanan, police sources said.
“This is a case of moral policing. They had stabbed Tamilvanan on the thigh, asked them to leave and fled the scene. The girl, however, did not know what to do, and took time to call an ambulance. Meantime, the accused later came and warned them again. Because he was left to bleed for so long, Tamilvanan could not be saved,” a police source said.
Tiruchy police said that both the accused, Prathap and Karthikeyan, were painters. They were passing through the forest area and stopped to relieve themselves, when they spotted the couple.
Investigations revealed that the accused were carrying a knife that’s typically used to cut or sharpen bamboo stalks.
While initial reports claimed that the 20-year-old woman was sexually harassed, police maintain that the accused who are also locals, had only warned her before leaving the spot.
“That is not true at all. The girl had not made any such claim. She came in to give a statement on the day of incident, and had been instrumental in identifying the accused. But, she did not give any statement of harassment,” police added.
