Tirunelveli: Relatives of a college student found dead under mysterious circumstances in a private lodge in Courtallam here, suspect that the boy was murdered and refused to receive the body.
The deceased, Karthik Raja (18) son of Rajkumar of Kurragam in Tirupur district, was doing diploma in mechanical engineering at a polytechnic college in Tirupur. He was reportedly in love with an arts college student Surekha (19) of Gopichettipalayam. When the girl’s parents came to know about their affair, they complained to local police who arranged for talks between the parents of both the girl and the boy and settled the issue.
Though they agreed to give up their affair, Karthik Raja and the girl eloped last week. According to police the lovers went to Coimbatore, Palakkad and Ernakulam and reached ‘Tirunelveli on February 1.
From Tirunelveli they went to Courtallam and stayed in a private lodge, where the boy reportedly died. Registering the case as one of mysterious death, based on the complaint of the private lodge authorities, police sent the body to Tenkasi general hospital, where autopsy was performed.
Karthik Raja’s parents and relatives, however, suspect that their son was murdered, refused to receive the body and staged a dharna inside the Tenkasi government hospital, demanding a fair and detailed enquiry into the death. Raja had injuries on his body.
Police said preliminary enquiry reveals that the boy was drunk and attempted to videograph the girl and this resulted in a quarrel between the lovers. The body of Karthik Raja was shifted to Tirunelveli government medical college hospital on Monday, where his relatives continued their agitation.
