TN Violence: Madras HC Orders Fresh Autopsy in Death of Kallakurichi Schoolgirl

Justice N Sathish Kumar directed the DGP to form a special investigation team to identify rioters and take action.

The Madras High Court, on Monday, 18 July, ordered a new autopsy of the body of a girl student from a private school in Tamil Nadu’s Kallakurichi, accepting a plea by the father of the deceased girl.

(Photo: PTI)

The Madras High Court, on Monday, 18 July ordered a new autopsy of the body of a girl student from a private school in Tamil Nadu’s Kallakurichi, accepting a plea by the father of the deceased girl.

Granting one plea of the petitioner, Justice N Sathish Kumar passed the interim order, and said that the re-post-mortem will be conducted by a team of doctors nominated by the court while the entire process will be videographed in the presence of the girl’s father and a lawyer.

The second plea was to order the transfer of the case to the CB-CID.

"The court has all sympathies for the girl's parents, but for that you can't put the lives of so many others into risk", the judge said and directed the counsel to advise them to accept their daughter's body after re-post-mortem and conduct the funeral rites peacefully.

The parents were also barred from speaking to media over the incident, The New Indian Express reported.

State Public Prosecutor Mohammed Hasan Jinnah told the judge the state government had already transferred the case to the probe agency. The investigation was going on and several persons had been arrested, he added.

The judge also ordered the Tamil Nadu police to form a Special Investigation Team to probe the unbridled violence that took place within the premises of the Sakthi matriculation higher secondary school, at Kaniyamoor in Kallakurichi district, on Sunday.

“Appropriate criminal action should be taken against them following the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe,” Justice N Sathish Kumar said.

Widespread Violence on Sunday

On Sunday, chaos had ensued in Chinnasalem as protesters set fire to vehicles and pelted stones. As many as 70 men, who were involved in the violence, have been arrested, Director General of Police C Sylendra Babu told reporters.

The police had opened fire in the air at least twice to restrain the violent mob, who pushed down barricades, stormed the premises of the 'international' school near Chinnasalem, and set parked buses on fire.

Several protesters managed to reach the terrace and vandalised the school name board and held high banners seeking justice for the girl. A police bus too was set on fire. As many as 52 police personnel were injured in the violence, as per DGP Babu.

“It was total chaos. It was as if there was total lawlessness,” the judge added and directed the Director General of Police (DGP) to form an SIT to identify the rioters and take stern action against them.

“A status report must be filed on 29 July,” the court said.

Whenever a death occurs in educational institutions, the investigation into the same should be done by the CB-CID and the post-mortem conducted by a team of three doctors, the judge said.

(With inputs from The New Indian Express.)