Periyakulam Judicial Magistrate Mariappan posted the suicide case of a Dalit youth, in which O. Raja, brother of Finance Minister O. Paneerselvam, and six others have been accused, to August 10.
Nagamuthu (22) of Ambedkar Nagar was found dead in his house in December 2012 under mysterious circumstances. Police had seized a suicide note, reportedly written by the victim accusing Mr. Raja and the others of abetting him to commit suicide, from the house.
Though the issue remained low key for some time, when Nagamuthu’s father Subburaj approached the High Court Bench in Madurai and demanded a CBI probe, the police hastened the process and filed the charge sheet a month back, on the court directive. The case was posted for hearing to July 4. When the case came up for hearing on Saturday, the Judicial Magistrate posted it to August 10 before the PCR Special Court and instructed the accused to be present on the date.
The charge was that Nagamuthu, who was a priest in a temple, was discouraged by O. Raja and others in the locality to continue as a priest, since he was a Dalit. “The suicide note seized from Nagamuthu’s house was sent to forensic examination and found to be genuine. Moreover, the court had directed the police to speed up the process,” an officer said.
