A 17-year-old boy was hacked to death by a five-member gang near the parking area of the iconic Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai on Monday, with police suspecting that the murder was linked to a long-standing feud that escalated during the recently concluded Chithirai festival, as reported in ANI.
According to the Madurai City Police, the deceased has been identified as Kubendran. Preliminary investigations revealed that the attack stemmed from an old enmity, particularly a clash that had taken place during the Chithirai celebrations earlier this year.
The murder triggered a sharp political reaction, with Tamil Nadu BJP leader K. Annamalai launching a strong attack on Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay and the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam government over the worsening law and order situation in the State.
Sharing a video from the crime scene on social media platform X, Annamalai wrote, “What you see in this video is the blood stains of a young boy who was brutally murdered by a gang of five near the Meenakshi Amman temple in Madurai. Drug peddlers, Sexual assaulters, and murderers have a free pass in Tamil Nadu.”
He further alleged that the State police had failed to remain vigilant and accused the newly formed TVK government of not focusing on governance. “The State police seem to have learnt no lessons from the past, & the new TVK govt is yet to emerge from its celebratory mode and confront the grim realities unfolding on the ground,” he added.
The incident comes amid mounting public outrage over the recent abduction and murder of a 10-year-old girl in Coimbatore, a case that has intensified pressure on the newly formed State government.
The child was allegedly sexually assaulted before being strangled to death and her body dumped near a pond. Following the incident, Chief Minister Vijay had expressed “immense pain and shock” and stated that “such inhuman and unforgivable criminal acts can never be tolerated.”
In the Coimbatore case, the Sulur police arrested two accused, identified as Karthick and Mohanraj, while grieving relatives staged highway protests demanding capital punishment for those responsible.
Earlier, IGP Bharati informed reporters that the case had been altered to include provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act due to the alleged sexual assault of the minor victim.
Explaining the sequence of events, Bharati said the girl had gone missing on May 21 at around 5 pm while playing outside her house.
“On 21 May at about 8:30 pm, information was received through police helpline 100 that a 10-year-old girl who was playing outside her house had gone missing at about 5 pm in the evening. The police personnel rushed to the spot, conducted enquiries, received the complaint and registered a case regarding the missing child on the same night at about 10 pm,” she said.
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