Published Mar 05, 2026 | 1:44 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 05, 2026 | 1:44 PM
Though seven people have been arrested, police are tight-lipped about their motive for committing the gruesome crime. (Supplied)
Synopsis: Seven men arrested so far belong to the same backward community, ‘Maravar’. The police are tight-lipped about the motive, while speculations — ranging from caste pride, politics, and intoxication — have been doing the rounds in and around Tirunelveli.
Speculations are rife over the motive behind the apparent indiscriminate gang attack on a group of people, which killed two and injured six others in Perumpathu near Nanguneri in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district on Monday, 2 March.
Though seven people have been arrested, the police are tight-lipped about the motive, fuelling speculations.
While some felt it was a random act by an intoxicated gang with reported criminal antecedents, others added a caste angle to the gruesome crime that has numbed the poll-bound State.
Speaking at an event in Tirunelveli on Wednesday, 4 March, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president Vijay raked up the issue to point at what he claimed as the deteriorating law and order situation in Tamil Nadu.
It was a normal night on Monday with a group of people standing near a tea stall in Perumpathu village. Nine masked men arrived at the scene on three motorcycles. chased away the group and hacked them.
Witnesses later said the gang used sharp weapons, including sickles and knives.
John Mark, a 47-year-old physically handicapped man, couldn’t escape, and he was repeatedly hacked at the scene.
Speaking to South First, Advocate Prabhu Jeevan, retold the brutality. He had visited the scene on hearing about the gruesome crime.
“When the gang began attacking, others managed to escape. John was trapped. A person who fled the scene told us that he heard repeated thudding as the attackers struck John,” he said.
Mark’s relative, A Saraswathi, said he fell at the scene since he could not walk like others who fled. “They repeatedly hacked him. His head was almost severed,” she recalled.
The second person to fall victim was a migrant labourer from Odisha. Brick kiln-worker Trinath Katta, 50, might have fatally failed to read the situation.
Those who fled, too, were not safe. The gang chased and attacked them in cold blood. Nelson, Prabhakaran and Ramasamy from Perumpathu village, Sasikumar from Puliyankulam and Ganesh from Veerankulam were injured.
Villagers said they could not identify the masked assailants.
After unleashing terror in Perumpathu, the gang went to the neighbouring Kadamboduvalvu village and attacked people.
So far, the police have arrested seven people, aged 18-21, in connection with the crime. The police identified them as Kannan and Vasantha Kumar, both aged 21, Uchimahali alias Mittai (20), Anthony Michel (18), and Subbaiah alias Subash, Kalyani and Raja, all three aged 19.
Subash and Kalyani were reportedly involved in the 2023 Nanguneri case, in which a Dalit student, Chinnadurai, and his 14-year-old sister were attacked inside their house.
Two contrasting narratives have emerged after the incident.
One version suggested the attackers were intoxicated and assaulted whoever they found.
However, Sundar, a local functionary of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), alleged that the attack was entirely driven by caste hatred.
Among the victims, Mark belonged to the Dalit Christian community. Advocate Jeevan said three of the injured belonged to the Nadar community and two to the Konar community.
Saraswathi said Mark had no enmity with anyone. She added that since the attackers were wearing masks, it was not even clear whether they were intoxicated.
D Narayanan, a local leader of the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front, said the seven arrested men belonged to the same backward community, ‘Maravar’. He felt the double murder was carried out to establish themselves as rowdies and to assert their community’s dominance.
Adv Jeevan also raised another possibility. With elections expected soon, the lack of a clear motive raises political suspicions. He demanded a CBI probe into the incident.
Supporting this argument, Narayanan said the Nadar and Dalit communities in the area had recently expressed support for the ruling party, which had angered the opposing side.
Minor clashes between the groups have been reported often, and the murders could be an extension of those tensions, he added.
Perumpathu village is home to people from several communities. However, Dalit residents live in a separate part.
While backward and most backward communities live in the main part of Perumpathu, Scheduled Caste residents live in another locality known as Pudutheru.
Sources said that a few years ago, Dalits in the area were told they should not identify themselves as being from Perumpathu village but instead say they were from Pudutheru.
Meanwhile, some residents said that during the 2 March attack, the assailants targeted whoever they encountered, irrespective of their caste.
Adv Jeevan disagreed. He asserted that it was not an attack under the influence of alcohol but a planned one carried out to uphold the so-called caste pride.
The police, meanwhile, said further investigation was underway and assured strict legal action against those who disturb peace and security.
They also warned of action against those spreading divisive messages on social media.
Mark’s family has now been left without support.
Saraswathi said the government should provide a government job to Mark’s wife Kannagi, extend financial assistance and take look after the education of their children. Kannagi is speech-impaired.
The family of Trinath Katta has also been left in a vulnerable condition. Residents of Perumpathu and social activists have demanded that the government provide compensation and support to all affected families.
Adv Jeevan also alleged that police negligence played a role in the incident and demanded that security in the area be strengthened to prevent such attacks in the future.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
