In Public Interest: Activist Muruganantham Murder, police investigation raises questions | Shabbir

L Muruganantham, a disability rights activist and Madras High Court lawyer, was hacked to death in Tiruppur on July 28 in broad daylight. Muruganantham, was diagnosed with Becker Muscular Dystrophy and was fighting for the rights of persons with disabilities. After he was arrested in a false complaint in 2020 by the police, Muruganantham had fought a long drawn out legal battle. It had led to the Supreme Court issuing the Muruganantham Doctrine, which prescribed protection of the rights of prisoners with disabilities across Indian jails. Muruganantham was also fighting a legal case against his paternal uncle Dandapani, who had violated building rules and encroached on a portion of Muruganantham’s land. On the day of the crime, he was called to the site by a surveyor, but was instead brutally hacked to death by contract killers hired by his uncle Dandapani. Muruganantham’s family alleges that the assailants had been hiding in the school run by his uncle for days and that CCTV cameras were removed before the attack. Muruganantham had also approached the police seeking protection after receiving death threats, but petitions were ignored. The murder has raised several questions: Why was he denied police protection despite the threats? Why is the police reluctant to probe the role of the surveyor who called him to the spot, leading to his murder? The family accuses the police and government servants of being involved in the murder and wants a thorough probe. In this week’s In Public Interest, Shabbir Ahmed travels to Dharapuram in Tiruppur district to bring you this report.