Preserve Dalit boy's body till Tuesday: HC

The Madras High Court today directed the Tamil Nadu government to preserve till Tuesday the body of Dalit youth Ilavarasan, who was found dead along a railway track yesterday and to give his father a copy of the post mortem report along with the video graph of the procedure.

A division bench comprising Justices V Dhanapalan and C T Selvam gave the order on a mention by advocate Sankarasubbu who wanted a doctor of the choice of Ilavarasan's parents to be present in the team conducting the post-mortem.

Public Prosecutor Shanmugavelayutham said the four hour procedure was over by 11 AM, to which the lawyer objected and replied he had informed district Superintendent of Police that the matter would be taken up in court and was told the post-mortem would be taken up only at 1130 AM.

After the submissions,the judges directed the authorities concerned to preserve the body till Tuesday when they would hear the matter again.

The judges also said the post-mortem report and video graph should be handed over to the victim's father.

Earlier in the morning,a bench of Justices R Banumathi and T S Sivagnanam adjourned to July 19, a batch of PILs related to the anti-Dalit violence and arson and compensation package to victims.

Ilavarasan, whose marriage to the upper caste girl triggered anti-Dalit violence in three villages of the district in November last,was found dead along a railway track here yesterday, a day after his wife said she would never go back to him.

His death came barely hours after Divya said she would never go back to him and would live with her mother.

After appearing for a hearing in Madras High Court in a habeas corpus petition by her mother,the girl had said she had been under tremendous pressure all along and was unable to forget her father who committed suicide over her marriage.

Ilavarasan's death triggered tension in Naickenkottai village, where prohibitory orders have been clamped under Section 144 of CrPC. Armed personnel have been posted in sensitive areas, including that of caste Hindu localities, of Naickenkottai.