The marriage that began with a tragedy has ended with another. E Ilavarasan,a Dalit youth whose marriage to a Vanniyar girl sparked violence against his community last year,was found dead on a railway track Thursday afternoon. The news of his death sparked tension in Dharmapuri,where the wounds of last years clashes are yet to heal,prompting the administration to declare curfew and rush additional police personnel. Ilavarasan was found dead behind Dharmapuri Government Arts College,with a fatal head injury. The police believe it may be a case of suicide. The local station manager filed a complaint stating that Ilavarasan could have jumped in front of the Mumbai-bound Lokmanya Tilak Express at 12:55 pm. His family members and villagers rushed to the spot,before the body was finally allowed to be taken for autopsy in the evening. Police reportedly found a motorcycle and a bag with Ilavarasans clothes and a few letters that his wife,Divya Nagarajan,had written to him in the past. The death came a day after Divya said outside the Madras High Court that their marriage was over and ruled out any reconciliation. But many believed that the issues surrounding their marriage,starting with the suicide of her father,G Nagaraj,had forced her to make the statement. Because,just a day earlier,she had reportedly told a division bench in the judges chamber that she was still in love with Ilavarasan but was willing to wait till her family accepted him. In Dharmapuri,a backward district in north Tamil Nadu where Naxalism gave way to casteism,it was unacceptable for Nagaraj to let his daughter marry Ilavarasan. The Vanniyars consider themselves superior to Dalits in the caste hierarchy. But the young couple defied her parents and eloped last October. They refused to concede to the diktat of a panchayat that ordered her to return home. On November 7 last year,Nagaraj killed himself. His death triggered a backlash against Dalits in the region,with the families at Ilavarasans Natham colony and neighbouring Dalit settlements of Anna Nagar and Kondampatti bearing the brunt of the violence. The Pattali Makkal Katchi,the party of the Vanniyars,allegedly played a role in the violence,a charge vehemently denied by its leadership. Its leader,S Ramadoss,used inter-caste marriages with Dalits as a platform to bring together other influential castes who harbour similar dislike towards such alliances. Out of favour with both the Dravidian parties,consolidation of OBCs apparently was Ramadosss plan to gather power. The communal tension spread to other parts of the state also. Ramadoss,his son Anbumani and most of the partys second-rung leadership were arrested and lodged in various jails across the state. As the issue gathered political momentum and became a law and order problem,the marriage was largely forgotten till a month ago,when Divya went to meet her mother and decided not to return. Divya appeared with her mother,Thenmozhi,before the Madras High Court when a habeas corpus petition the latter had filed came for hearing. Fighting tears,she told the court that she preferred to be with her mother who was ailing and lonely since the death of her father. Ilavarasan was in the courtroom when she spoke to the judges. He pleaded with her to return to him,but Divya stood there silently,head hung and tears in her eyes. Those close to him said he never blamed her,but understood the pressure on her,and always believed she would return to him. The feeling strengthened when the case came up again earlier this week. The court preferred to summon Divya to the judges chamber where she reportedly told them that she wished to be with her mother till she accepted the marriage. The court later briefed the advocates from both sides,who then passed on the information to the media. However,speaking to the media at the high court premises on Wednesday,Divya denied making any such statement. All this while,I thought I need both my mother and my husband. But now,memories of my father are haunting me. I will not go back to him, she said yesterday.
