TN govt orders probe into Dalit youth's death

The Tamil Nadu government today ordered a commission to "probe the truth" behind the death of a Dalit youth, whose marriage to a woman from another caste sparked anti-Dalit violence in Dharmapuri last year.

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday ordered a commission to "probe the truth" behind the death of a Dalit youth, whose marriage to a woman from another caste sparked anti-Dalit violence in Dharmapuri last year.

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Chief minister J Jayalalithaa, expressing shock and grief over the death of Ilavarasan, said she had ordered a commission under former High court judge, justice SR Singaravelu to probe the matter.

"Social activists, political parties and individuals have been expressing various views (on the death). Ilavarasan's father has also expressed doubts over his son's death. Therefore, to probe the truth behind Ilavarasan's death, I have ordered an inquiry commission under justice SR Singaravelu," she said in a statement in Chennai.

Ilavarasan was found dead near a railway track in Dharmapuri on July 4, a day after his wife Divya had said she would never go back to him and would stay with her mother.