The accused in the death of Radhika, who was living with her widowed mother M. Kasturi at T. Vallakulam village, have obtained government compensation available for victims under Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015, by giving false information to the police or causing disappearance of evidence.
After committing the murder, the accused, with the connivance of Kasturi, mother of the deceased, “misguided and forced” the police to detain a caste Hindu, with whom the deceased had an affair, and invoke the provisions of SC/ST Act against them to get compensation, police sources said.
Acting on the advice of two lawyers practising in the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, they refused to accept the body and threatened to create law and order problem till the police booked the caste Hindus under the Act.
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After the FIR was registered, they accepted the body on May 5 and government handed over ₹4,12,500 as 50% of the total compensation to Ms. Kasturi.
Kasturi was aware that her own relatives had killed her daughter for having an affair with a caste Hindu man.
Lawyers had even arranged false witnesses to misguide the police and divert the investigation.
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She gave them ₹1.25 lakh as fees and another ₹60,000 to the villagers for arranging protests, police said.
The compensation was given on a false case, but there was no provision in the Act to recover the amount, police said. They added that this was a fit case of misuse of SC/ST Act.