Palaniswami, Annamalai raise doubts about the death of accused in Krishnagiri sexual assault case

AIADMK and BJP leaders question suspicious deaths in Krishnagiri sexual assault case, demand thorough investigation.

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Friday raised doubts about the circumstances that led to the death of the accused in the Krishnagiri sexual assault case and his father.

In a statement, Mr. Palaniswami said that people were wondering whether Sivaraman was “done to death” as otherwise, he would have revealed the names of those involved in the crime to the special investigation team (SIT) that was probing the case. There were also other questions – for how long, and how many times had fake NCC camps been held, and whether such camps had been conducted in any other district, he said.

The AIADMK leader demanded that a comprehensive inquiry be conducted into the matter.

BJP State president K. Annamalai also raised suspicion over the death of Sivaraman.

In a social media post, he said that the accused’s death, allegedly by suicide, before an interrogation by the SIT, had raised suspicion. “There was no information on Sivaraman having allegedly attempted to end his life on August 16 and 18 when he was arrested on August 19 and brought to the Government Medical College Hospital in Krishnagiri with a fractured leg. It remains a mystery as to how, after attempting to end his life twice, he had not developed any complications for five days, and suddenly died on August 23,” Mr. Annamalai said.

“Since Sivaraman had earlier attempted to end his life in July, his death raises suspicion as to whether he was killed and the incident was covered up as a suicide due to fear that he might reveal the names of some key persons involved in the crime during the investigation,” he said.

The BJP leader also raised doubts about the death of Sivaraman’s father, Ashok Kumar, who was said to have met with a road accident in an inebriated state. He urged the SIT to thoroughly probe the death of Sivaraman and his father to bring out the truth.