Acquittal of O. Raja in abetment of suicide case of temple priest shocking: Evidence

Shocking acquittal in temple priest suicide case prompts call for government appeal, justice for victim's family.

The acquittal of all the accused, including the former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam’s brother O. Raja, who figured in the temple priest abetment of suicide case reported in 2012, was shocking and unfortunate, said Evidence Executive Director A. Kathir.

Speaking to media persons, here on Friday with the petitioners, he said that the State government should immediately prefer an appeal in High Court against the special court’s judgement.

Two days ago, a special court in Dindigul had acquitted Mr. Raja, Manimaran, Loganathan, Sivakumar, Gnanam and Saravanan. Another accused Pandi died during the trial of the case.

The issue was that a Scheduled Caste S. Naganathan of T. Kallupatti in Theni district was a priest in the Kailasanathar Temple. Suddenly, he was told by the accused to stop performing pujas and that he need not come. Unable to digest, he argued with them and lodged a complaint with Thenkarai police in 2012. Subsequently, due to ‘severe’ torture, he died by suicide on December 7, 2012.

Shocked, Subburaj, father of Naganathan, approached the court, which after hearing for over a decade, acquitted all the accused.

Under such circumstances, Mr. Kathir said that despite strong evidence available to show that the accused were responsible for Naganathan’s death, the judgement was an injustice to the downtrodden.

Appreciating the lawyer Mohan, who appeared for the victim’s family, and Mr. Subburaj for their upright conduct, Mr. Kathir said that it was unfortunate that the government had not bothered to even inquire into the case history.