Chennai, May 12 (IANS): Activists and relatives of a Dalit youth who was allegedly killed for marrying an intermediate caste girl have charged the Pallikaranai Police of Tamil Nadu for soft-peddling the murder case.

Praveen (26), a Dalit mechanic and a resident of Ambedkar Street in Pallikaranai, Chennai was in a relationship with Sharmila (22) who was from an Other Backward Class (OBC) community and hailing from Jalladianpettai.

After the family of Sharmila opposed their marriage, they got married in December and Praveen brought her to his home.

On February 23, 2024, Sharmila’s brother Dinesh and four of his accomplices waylaid Praveen and hacked him to death using sharp weapons.

Pallikaranai Police registered the case and arrested Dinesh (24) and his accomplices Sriram (18), Jothilingam (25), Vishnuraj (24) and Stephan (24).

Sharmila attempted suicide on April 14, 2024 and on April 22 she succumbed to death.

Dalit activist K.R. Murugan while talking to IANS said that Pallikaranai Police is soft-peddling over the case.

“We suspect a deliberate attempt by the police to delay the chargesheet so that the accused gets statutory bail if the chargesheet is not filed after 90 days,” Murugan said.

Murugan said that the police are delaying filing the chargesheet as the father of Sharmila, Durai Kumar was a DMK functionary and that the ruling party was putting pressure on the police.

However, DMK State Organising Secretary R.S. Bharathi told IANS that no party leader had intervened in the probe and added that stringent action must be taken in the case without considering any political affiliations.

Chennai Dalit activist U.V. Krishnaveni told IANS that Sharmila demanded the arrest of her parents and another brother which the Police did not accept it and her suicide attempt and her subsequent death were due to the inaction of the police.

She demanded stringent action without falling to pressure from the ruling party leadership.

G. Chithra, the mother of Praveen, filed a complaint with the Tambaram Police Commissioner stating that her daughter-in-law had committed suicide after the police failed to take action against her parents as well as her elder brother.

Senior lawyer Bhavani Mohan who has appeared in several such cases for victims said that even though SC/ST Prevention of the Atrocities Act has been charged against the accused, the Pallikaranai Police is delaying the investigation.

He also said that the police were not probing the case properly and had just recorded statements.

Dalit activists said that they would be forced to conduct a peaceful agitation before the office of the Tambaram Police Commissioner if the investigation is not sped up and the chargesheet is not filed.