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After woman’s death in mob fury, villages deserted
As Rukmini’s family came to collect her body after post-mortem examination at Tiruvannamalai government hospital a day after a mob attacked her family suspecting them to be child kidnappers, the villages in the neighbourhood wore a deserted look on Thursday after the men went into hiding fearing arrest by the police for the murder.
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Tiruvannamalai
Rukmani’s son was inconsolable as he received his mother’s body from the Tiruvannamalai GH, where it was shifted to from the Polur government hospital, on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Kaliyam, Athimoor, Thambukottanparai, Indranagar, Tindivanam, Ganesapuram, Kamatchipuram, Gandhinagar, Sampangipuram and Thaliyar and Erikollaimedyu villages were deserted. The shops were shut, men are absconding, the womenfolk refused to venture out of their homes.
In all, 23 have been remanded in custody under various charges including murder and attack using deadly weapons. The held include five persons from Tindivanam, four from Thambukottanparai, four from Kaliyam, two from Indranagar, one from Ganesapuram, two from Athimoor, one from Kamatchipuram, three from Jampangipuram and one from Thaliyar.
According to various sources, when the mob turned hostile suspecting that the family handing out chocolates to children at Thambukottanparai could be kidnappers, they started to flee which enraged the mob. The furious mob chased and stopped the car, and began attacking the car before reaching in and pulling out the occupants. They were thrashed using whatever they could lay their hands on.
“The mob ripped off the clothes of the men and beat them mercilessly,” said a police officer. “The cries of the victims saying that they were not child lifters failed to penetrate the minds of the frenzied mob. Kaliyam villagers also joined the melee when they were told that victims were child lifters,” he added.
Finally, the Polur police rescued and took them to a hospital on the Polur-Athiyandhal road where doctors declared Rukmani brought dead. Meanwhile Vellore SP P Pagalavan after a meeting of officials said those who spread rumours on sensitive issues and took the law into their hands would be detained under the Goondas Act.
Read more: Mob attack: One more dead
Lynching: 23 remanded, hunt on for others
A day after a mob lynched a woman from Chennai, 23 of them were remanded in custody after being booked under various sections of the IPC including murder, attempt to murder and attacking with deadly weapons among others.
“Police are continuing to search for more persons in this connection using video uploads of the incident on social media,” said Tiruvannamalai collector KS Kandasamy, adding that many involved in the incident have gone underground.
This is the first instance of initiating tough action, though several attacks on north Indians and mentally disturbed persons have been reported in Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts in the last two months itself. Police had to rescue Sanjay (28) of Maharashtra, who was tied to a lamp post and assaulted at Ammoor.
“He was beaten up due to his inability to speak in Tamil,” a senior cop said. Similarly, Sholingur police arrested four youth for beating up an elderly mentally disturbed woman wandering on the Sholingur-Tirutani road. Here too, her inability to reply in Tamil led to the attack, police said.
According to a senior police officer, several mentally-disturbed persons are sent off to pilgrim centres like Rameswaram in the hope that the devotees would feed them. “But now, such persons disembark at stations like Katpadi and meander into the interior areas leading to disastrous results,” he added.
3 held for assault on ‘child-lifter’
Vellore taluk police registered a case and arrested three persons for assaulting a mentally disturbed Chennai native, suspecting him to be a child lifter on Wednesday.
Police said that a 32-yearold man found wandering near Lakshmipuram was assaulted by Murthy (40), Venketesan (40) and Vijayan (55) after suspecting him to be a child lifter. On receipt of information, Vellore taluk police rushed to the spot and rescued the victim, who was then admitted to the Vellore government medical college hospital. Police arrested the trio and are investigating further.
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