Crime News

In the last 11 years, the conviction rate in Tamil Nadu for caste atrocities against Dalits is a meagre 3.6%, says data. Perpetrators have been punished only in 406 out of a total of 11,117 cases dating from 2015 to 2025, points out data released by Madurai-based rights organisation Evidence.  1103 cases are from 2024 and 1560 cases are from 2025, marking a 29% jump.  The rights organisation further found high pendency rates both in police stations and in courts. A total of 167 cases are pending police investigation. 494 cases are pending trial and 3810 cases are still in court.  Despite RTI applications, Coimbatore, Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, Thoothukudi, Namakkal, Tenkasi, Theni, Tirunelveli, Thanjavur, Virudhunagar and parts of Chennai districts did not provide information, Evidence says.   Madurai in the lead  1322 (14.6%) caste atrocities occurred in Madurai district — the highest in the state. Sivagangai district comes second with 756 atrocity cases. Villupuram district saw 709 cases and Pudukkottai saw 696 cases.  Madurai district has 21 cases pending police investigation, coming in second after Nagapattinam (78). Several of these have been pending since 2015 and 2016.

CHENNAI: A 29-year-old woman constable was found dead at her house in Egmore on Wednesday night, and her husband, also a police constable, was arrested on charges of abetment to suicide. According to police sources, Bhuvaneswari, a native of Pulichapallam near Vanur in Villupuram district, had joined the state police in 2016. She was serving in the Avadi Battalion before being assigned to the Crime Branch at Egmore on special duty. Her husband, Silambarasan (31), from Puliyanjeri in Tiruvarur district, is attached to the Pudupet Armed Reserve of the Greater Chennai Police. The couple got married in 2024.

A dalit man named Kollimalai (45) of Thiruvanduthurai village near Mannarkudi of Thiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu was subjected to brutal torture and humiliation by three upper caste men. He was made to eat human waste, following which the three men urinated on him. The incident took place when he was returning from his brick kiln in the early hours of April 28. The police have registered a complaint against the three men who committed the heinous crime. Atrocities against dalits are on the rise in the state in recent times. A recent Right to Act (RTI) enquiry by Social Awareness Society for Youths (SASY) has revealed that more than 600 villages still practice untouchability in various forms. Thiruvarur district tops the list with more than 150 villages practising the crime. The district is the home state of former Chief Minister Late M Karunanidhi.

CHENNAI: The state government on Wednesday transferred and posted 15 IPS officers, including senior officer G Venkataraman, who had served as TN Director General of Police (in-charge) and Head of Police Force following the retirement of Shanker Jiwal. Venkataraman, currently serving as DGP (Administration), has now been posted as DGP, Civil Supplies CID, Chennai. Among the key changes, Assistant Superintendents of Police V Satish Kumar and Ravindra Kumar Gupta have been promoted as Superintendents of Police and posted to Thiruvarur and Pudukkottai respectively. K Bhavaneeswari has been posted as Inspector General of Police (IGP), Singapenn Special Force, Chennai, while Praveen Kumar Abhinapu has been appointed IGP, North Zone, Chennai. A Saravana Sundar has been posted as IGP, Crime, Chennai. P Vijaya Kumar has been appointed Deputy IGP/Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), South Zone, Greater Chennai Police. Abhishek Gupta has been posted as Superintendent of Police, Thoothukudi district, while I Shahnaz has been appointed SP of Kallakurichi.

A television journalist was allegedly assaulted by a group of men in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvarur district late on Monday, May 18. The journalist sustained serious injuries in the attack. However, police said the assault arose from a personal dispute and was unrelated to his profession. The injured reporter, P Haja Maideen (37), who works for a private Tamil news channel, is currently undergoing treatment at the Thanjavur Government Medical College Hospital. According to police, the incident took place around 11.30 pm at Haja Maideen’s residence in Muthupettai when the primary accused, Abdul Basith (20), along with a few others, allegedly barged into his house and picked a fight over his relationship with a woman known to the accused. The argument escalated, during which Abdul Basith allegedly attacked the journalist with a bottle. Maideen sustained serious injuries and was first admitted to the Government Hospital in Muthupettai before being shifted to Thanjavur for further treatment.