Police inaction against the woman moneylender and the ‘kangaroo court’ conducted by police officers in support of the moneylender had forced borrower Esakkimuthu to set himself and his family on fire on the Collectorate premises, his brother Gopi alleged.
Gopi, who had accompanied him when he came to the Collectorate with his wife Subbulakshmi and two daughters — Mathi Saranya (4) and Akshaya Bharanitha (18 months) — was inconsolable that he could not avert the tragedy as he had gone to the nearby teashop when the incident happened.
Mr. Gopi said the police, instead of reprimanding the moneylender, harassed his brother after he submitted six petitions during the grievance day meetings seeking action against the usurer.
When the highly disturbed Esakkimuthu left his native place of Kasidharmam on Monday morning for the Collectorate with his family, Mr. Gopi volunteered to accompany him after he saw him carrying 5 litres of kerosene.
“I never expected that he (Esakkimuthu) would take such an extreme step of killing his family and setting himself afire. When I had gone to have a cup of tea, my brother’s family has been reduced to ashes,” Mr. Gopi lamented.
“Instead of rendering justice to my brother, the custodians of law were supporting the merciless moneylender which actually destroyed my brother’s family,” said Mr. Gopi, banging his head against the door of TVMCH’s trauma care block. He sustained an injury on the head and was taken to the emergency care unit.
The Palayamkottai police registered a case against moneylender Muthulakshmi, her husband Thalavai Raj and her father-in-law Kali under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) and 511 (attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of IPC and Section 4 of The Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Charging Exorbitant Interest Act.