Chennai:
In a small home in western Tamil Nadu, a 47-year-old man, seated on a chair, sips a glass of water, hoping it will stem the tears. It doesn't.
A post-mortem that was done today reveals Ilavarasan died of a head injury. A video of the autopsy will be shared with his inconsolable parents, a request they have made legally as questions swirl around whether the young man committed suicide.
The 21-year-old he had married in August, Divya Nagaraj, who must be given security by the government, the Madras High Court said today. The judge also said that Ilavasaran cannot be cremated till Tuesday, just in case a second post-mortem is needed.
The love story of Divya, from the Vanniyars, an upper-caste Hindu community and Ilavasaran, a Dalit, was stalked from the beginning by political agendas.
Weeks after they eloped, Divya's father committed suicide. After his death, nearly 200 huts owned by Dalits in and around Ilavasaran's village were set on fire. Parties with a strong Dalit votebank blamed Divya's community for the riots, and said the violence had been backed by the PMK, headed by S Ramadoss and openly committed to preventing inter-caste marriages.
Seven months after her father's suicide, Divya returned to her parental home to live with her mother, who had filed a case in the Madras High Court asking for Divya to be released from "unlawful detention". Divya returned while her mother's petition was still pending. On Wednesday, Divya told the Madras High Court she would not return to Ilavasaran.
Ilavasaran's mother holds the PMK responsible for her son's death; the party has denied any links to the tragedy. "They killed my son. My son didn't kill himself," she said.