- A 16-year-old boy was murdered by five in a Madurai temple parking area Sunday night
- The killing allegedly stemmed from an old enmity linked to a recent Chithirai festival clash, police said
- A 10-year-old girl was also kidnapped, assaulted, and killed recently in Coimbatore district
A 16-year-old boy was murdered allegedly by a gang of five in the car parking area of the Meenakshi Amman Temple on Sunday night in Madurai, the police said.
According to the police investigation, the murder is believed to have stemmed from an old enmity, specifically, a clash that occurred during the recently concluded Chithirai festival, the Madurai City Police said.
The teen has been identified as Gubendran.
The incident comes barely days after a 10-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped, sexually assaulted and brutally murdered near Sulur in Coimbatore district.
In another incident from Coimbatore, a 13-year-old school dropout boy was murdered and buried by two of his school-going minor friends.
Former Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai attacked the Vijay-led TVK government, claiming that the new government is "yet to emerge from its celebratory mood".
"Drug peddlers, Sexual assaulters, and murderers have a free pass in Tamil Nadu. The State police seem to have learnt no lessons from the past, & the new TVK govt is yet to emerge from its celebratory mode and confront the grim realities unfolding on the ground," K Annamalai posted on X.
DMK spokesperson A Sarvanan criticised the new government, saying it had promised that it will bring about the change, but the ground reality is very different.
"This is unprecedented. Two days back there was an incident in Sulur where a 10-year-old girl was assaulted and killed. Two more persons were killed in separate incidents. In the last 2-3 days alone, the death count has gone up to 6-7. The TVK government and their leadership is totally clueless," the DMK spokesperson told NDTV.
"Let's not forget that Vijay, the chief Minister, said this very same thing. That the 'law and order situation in Tamil Nadu is very bad, please vote for me, I will change it'. He exhorted the youth to vote for him as he will bring about the change. You are not even coming out and meeting the people. Just issuing statements, not even willing to meet the press and explaining what is happening," the spokesperson added.
