A 25-year-old woman from Valathattai near Kollidam in Tiruchy district died by suicide following an alleged assault and humiliation linked to the distribution of gift utensils during election campaigning, police said.
The woman, Sindhuja, wife of Prasanth and mother of a three-year-old girl, had questioned why she was not given a utensil distributed to voters ahead of a campaign visit by the DMK candidate for Mannachanallur, Kadhiravan. After she and her mother sought clarification, party functionaries allegedly mocked them before handing over the item.
Police said that when Sindhuja later passed through the area, a group of DMK functionaries allegedly taunted her again about asking for the gift, spoke to her disrespectfully and, when she objected, assaulted her. The complaint also alleges that some family members of the accused joined in the attack and that abusive language was used.
Sindhuja returned to her mother’s house in tears and later spoke to her husband about the incident. After he told her he would question them the next morning, she was found to have died by suicide at home, relatives said. Police sent the body for post-mortem at the Srirangam Government Hospital.
Following the incident, relatives reportedly damaged a suspect’s house and held a road blockade near “Number One Tollgate” in Tiruchy, demanding action including a case against the candidate. Based on a complaint from Sindhuja’s mother, police registered a case against nine people, arrested six—including Raja, Rajendran, Ravikumar, Pushpam, Rajeswari and Angumani—and said three others are being traced.
