Semmaram Encounter Killings Fact Finding Report2

Tamil Research Institution (TRI)
I, Patchiammal, wife of the deceased Moorthy, S/o. Gopala Goundar who was shot
dead by the Andhra Police, do hereby sincerely state and solemnly affirm as follows:
Mrs. Patchiammal
W/o. Moorthy (Late),
Murugapadi, Polur Taluk,
Tiruvannamalai District
I was residing in the above said address along with my late husband Moorthy,
daughter Kaviya, and my father-in- law and mother-in-law. We belong to the Hindu Vanniyar
Community. My husband had studied up to 10 th standard. We own 70 cents of land. Due to
lack of rains we were unable to do agriculture. Therefore we are facing trouble in eking out a
livelihood and hence my husband used to go for coolie work for whoever offered him work.
Often he went for painting work and for catering work in marriage functions. He went to
Vellore often for work and he always used to inform me where they had allotted him work.
He returned home in the night after finishing his work there. He went to work as a daily
wager and earned Rs.3.00/- per day whenever he got work.
In the said circumstance, I came to know that on 06.03.2015 (Monday) at about 2.00
PM my husband had gone to Arjunapuram for catering work and then went to
Kannamangalam by ‘Kannaki’ bus, from Sekar who escaped from there,.
After that the next day i.e., on 07.04.15 at about 7.00 PM Kannamangalam Police
came to my home and showed a photo. The photographs were that of the faces of deceased
persons. I couldn’t identify the persons clearly. After that the police went back to
Kannamangalam and brought a big sized photo and showed me. Only then we came to
know that my husband had died and we cried in grief. Kannamangalam police left, asking
me to come to the police station the next day.
After that the next day i.e., on 08.04.15 at about 9.00 AM my sister-in-law
Saraswathi’s husband and one Dhanapal went to Kannamangalam Police station. The
Police got the Voter’s Identification card of Moorthy and the Ration Card and Voter’s
Identification Card of my sister-in-law’s husband Kothandaraman and Dhanapal and sent
them to Tirupati Govt. Hospital at about 1.00 PM. When they said that they wanted to see
my husband’s body the police, who were there, refused to let them.
After that at about 5.00 PM a Tahsildar who was there, issued my husband Moorthy’s
death certificate and the FIR after collecting a photocopy of the Voter’s ID of my husband
and my relatives who went to receive my husband’s body. After completing the process, at
about 7.00 PM they were taken to the post-mortem room. There they saw that already postmortem
had been completed and the body was tightly swathed in cloth.
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