A fact finding team of PUCL, AIPWA and AISA visited the village Katchaikatti in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu on 26 January to investigate the brutal murder of a four and a half year old girl child Rajalakshmi. The child, daughter of a dalit couple Mr. Thottan and Annakili, had disappeared on 1st January 2011, and her body was found the following day, with the body drained of every drop of blood and no signs of blood at the site where the body was found.
The team intervened after the police could not make any headway even after 25 days. The team included PUCL’s Vice President Dr. R Murali (and Professor of Philosophy in Madurai College), Prof. Mohan Kalyana Sundaram, former Principal, Saraswathi Narayan College, Madurai, Usha, State Secretary, AIPWA, Divya, AISA, Prof. R Govindarajan, Dept. of Chemistry, Madurai College, Prof. Periyasamy Raja, Dept. of Tamil, VHNSN College, Virudhunagar, Mr. Hameed, media activist, Marupakkam and Mr.Balaraman, Research Scholar,Vadipatti.
The team found that the throat of the child was slit and a portion of flesh taken off near its right eye. The body was first spotted in close proximity to a well. The murder was committed in a fashion similar to sacrificing a goat or chicken for its blood and was executed on Amavasya (new moon) which is considered auspicious day for black magic. It was therefore suspected that the child was sacrificed.
Subsequently, a father and son were arrested who confessed to have committed the murder to meet the demand of some person who had asked for a human sacrifice. Two local DMK leaders Ayoobkhan and P M Mannan who are constructing a school nearby acted to try and delay the arrest of these suspects, leading to the suspicion that they had commissioned the sacrifice.
Subsequently the two arrested died under suspicious circumstances – the father died in police custody while the son, who had bitten off his tongue to avoid custody and had therefore been hospitalised, allegedly jumped off the first floor of the hospital and succumbed to a head injury. The CPI(ML) has alleged that these deaths are likely to be murders, to prevent these men from revealing which powerful person had commissioned the sacrifice. The party has demanded a CBI enquiry into the case, action against the concerned police officials and compensation for the child’s family.
