Tamil Nadu: Police believe Facebook posts led to atheist’s murder in Coimbatore
A man has surrendered before the magistrate’s court and confessed to the crime.
A member of the Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam, a Tamil political group committed to spreading the rationalist ideas of Dravidian ideologue Periyar, was hacked to death in Coimbatore on Thursday night.
The cause is believed to be an anti-religious message he had posted on Facebook, a social networking site.
Police said the victim, 31-year-old H Farook, received a phone call around 11 pm – following which he stepped out of his house. Soon afterwards, four unidentified men attacked him with sharp weapons. They ran away when the man’s cries for help attracted the attention of local residents.
Farook was a daily wage labourer at the Ukkadam old market in Coimbatore.
Deputy commissioner of police (Coimbatore) S Saravanan said Farook’s anti-religious statements on Facebook and Whatsapp had offended many in the past. “That may have been the motive behind the murder,” he added.
Later, a man identified as M Ansath surrendered before the magistrate’s court and confessed to the crime. Police have collected fingerprint samples from the scene, and sent the body for a post-mortem examination.
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