The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday said that the death of a 45-year-old woman, Gomathi, at Pakkirimaniyam village in Cuddalore district on April 19, the day of polling, was only due to enmity between two groups.
While five persons were arrested earlier, three more were arrested on Tuesday and a search is under way to nab two more. A case has been registered at the Srimushnam Police Station under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 294 (b) (singing obscene words), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (causing hurt with dangerous weapons), 506 (ii) (criminal intimidation) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Woman Act, 1998.
A government release said that as per the preliminary investigation, there was enmity between the two groups. “Besides, no other reason has emerged during the course of the investigation,” it said.
On April 19, Jayashankar and his daughter were on their way to a temple when Kalaimani, Ravi, Pandian, and Arivumani verbally abused them. Kalaimani was once arrested in 2021 in connection with a dispute between the two parties.
Supporters and family members of both the parties engaged in a quarrel, which later turned into a scuffle. “When Gomathi [who resided in the area] attempted to broker peace, she fell and suffered a head injury,” the release said, adding that she was declared dead when taken to hospital. The investigation would be completed and the final report would be submitted in the court, it said.
A police officer said that charge-sheet would be filed in the case after receipt of the post-mortem report.
The police have also warned against circulation of false messages with respect to the murder. Social media was rife with rumours of the woman being killed as she refused to vote for a certain party.
On Monday, a case was filed against BJP State president K. Annamalai on charges of posting ‘misleading’ content about the death on X (formerly Twitter).
