S. Swathi was a 24-year-old Indian Infosys employee who was murdered on June 24, 2016, at the Nungambakkam railway station in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India while on her way to her office. Swathi was murdered in front of several people, with passengers remaining mute spectators. An assailant, suspected to be P. Ramkumar, escaped, and Swathi's body lay unattended before the police arrived and started their investigation process.

Victim

S. Swathi
Born1991 or 1992
Died (aged 24)
Chennai, India
Cause of deathStab wounds
Alma materDhanalakshmi College of Engineering (BS)

Swathi was the daughter of Santhana Gopalakrishnan, a retired employee of ESIC, the health insurance company of the Indian government. She completed a bachelor's degree in computer science at Dhanalakshmi College of Engineering in 2014, taking a course in Oracle in Anna University the same year.[1] After being selected for a job at Infosys, she underwent training in Mysore and received a job as a System Engineer. Sidhu, a friend of Swathi from the engineering college, described her as a friendly woman who generally kept to herself.[1]

Murder

At around 6:30 am IST on June 24, 2016, Swathi's father dropped her off at the Nungambakkam railway station in Chennai.[2] As part of her daily routine, Swathi was waiting at the station to travel to her workplace in Mahindra World City.[2] She was stabbed to death with a sickle following an argument with a man who had been waiting for her approximately 30 minutes beforehand.[3][4] The attacker fled at around 6:42 am.[3] Initially, the police who discovered her body covered it with shirts purchased from nearby stores, and her body was left in such a position for more than two hours.[5] A senior officer later reached the station and delivered the body to the Government General Hospital.[5]

Suspect

P. Ramkumar
Born1991 or 1992[6]
Meenakshipuram, Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, India
Died(2016-09-18)September 18, 2016 (aged 24–25)

P. Ramkumar was born in Meenakshipuram, a small village in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.[7] His father, Paramasivam, was an employee of the telecommunications company BSNL, and his mother, Pushpam, was an agricultural worker.[7] Ramkumar finished his schooling in 2011, and received a degree in mechanical engineering in 2015, though he found it difficult to find employment.[7] Ramkumar and Swathi were Facebook friends, and they had previously exchanged phone numbers, as per police records.[8][9] A police officer stated that Ramkumar had stalked Swathi on Facebook, and monitored her movements offline.[9] Seeking employment in the film industry and an opportunity to be closer to Swathi, he took residence in Choolaimedu, a locality of Chennai.[7][9] Acquaintances characterized Ramkumar as largely solitary; some residents of Meenakshipuram said he was "friendless".[7] On September 18, 2016, Ramkumar, allegedly committed suicide by electrocuting himself in his cell at the Puzhal central prison in Chennai. Police have claimed that the accused died after biting a live electric wire.

Investigation

The Madras High Court said it would intervene if the investigation proved lax, condemning the slowness of railway police in attending to the body.[10] The case was quickly transferred from railway to city police after little progress was made.[11] On July 1, 2016, Ramkumar was arrested for the murder in Tirunelveli.[12] He allegedly attempted to commit suicide by slitting his throat, and was transferred to the government hospital of Tirunelveli[12] A friend of Swathi, Bilal Malik, has also been taken in for questioning by the police.

On 18 September 2016, while the investigation was ongoing, Ramkumar allegedly committed suicide while lodged in central prison. He was taken to hospital after he bit a live wire, where he was declared dead.[13] In July 2022, Caravan magazine published a status check on the case including detailed interviews with multiple people exploring unanswered questions.[14]

Controversy

N. Panchapakesan, founder of Chennai Sai Sankara Matrimonials, authored a blog highlighting the Swathi murder case and made several remarks including calling men from other castes "loafers" who were attempting to bracket Brahmin girls for their "Higher Genetics" and being born a Brahmin is a rarity with inter-caste Marriages being a “Himalayan blunder”. The blog was subsequently removed after widespread social media outrage and criticism by the press.[15][16][17]

In 2017, Ramesh Selvan directed a film Swathi Kolai Vazhakku based on the incident, but due to legal hurdles[18] later, the film's title was changed to Nungambakkam and released in October 2020.[19][20]

References

  1. 1 2 "Chennai: Swathi, soft-spoken person, say relatives". Deccan Chronicle. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Crime capital". Frontline. July 22, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Sathish, M. (July 3, 2016). "In depth: Here's the complete story behind Swathi's murder". New Indian Express.
  4. ↑ Janardhanan, Arun (June 27, 2016). "Female Infosys employee hacked to death at Chennai railway station". Indian Express.
  5. 1 2 "Swathi's body left lying on railway station platform for 2 hours". New Indian Express. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  6. ↑ "Infosys techie Swathi's killer regrets, but still angry at her". The Times of India. 2016-07-08. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Sudhakar, P.; Narayanan, Vivek (3 July 2016). "Chennai techie murder suspect: A portrait of an introvert". The Hindu. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  8. ↑ "Swathi, 'killer' were Facebook friends". Asian Age. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 "Killer Ram Kumar befriended Chennai techie Swathi on Facebook: police". Deccan Chronicle. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  10. ↑ "Swathi murder case accused kumar arrested in Tirunelveli". The Hindu Business Line. July 2, 2016.
  11. ↑ Ayyapan, V. (June 27, 2016). "City police to handle Infosys employee murder case". Times of India.
  12. 1 2 "Swathi murder case: Prime accused kumar to be brought before court today". Indian Express. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  13. ↑ "Swathi murder accused Ramkumar commits suicide in Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai". The Times of India. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  14. ↑ Sivagnanam, Sujatha (2022-07-31). "Blue Murder - The Swathi murder case, a Dalit youth's death and unanswered questions in Tamil Nadu". The Caravan. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  15. ↑ "Swathi murder case: Here are the 'lessons' girls should learn from this tragedy". Firstpost. July 6, 2016. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  16. ↑ "Everybody loves a good motive: Casteism, misogyny pervades discourse on Swathi's murder". www.thenewsminute.com. July 7, 2016. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  17. ↑ "Matrimony site cites Swathi case to extol 'Brahmin privilege'". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  18. ↑ "Swathi Kolai Vazhaku: Film based on infamous Nungambakkam murder faces legal hurdles". Firstpost. 2017-06-02. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  19. ↑ "Nungambakkam the Movie". Archived from the original on 2019-08-01. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  20. ↑ "Swathi Kolai Vazhakku gets a new title". Cinema Express. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
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