Two days after a 20-year-old Dalit woman was found dead in a private garden in Tamil Nadu's Kancheepuram district, the police have arrested a 24-year-old man in connection with the case.

Rajesh, hailing from a dominant caste group, was allegedly in a relationship with the woman, who was found dead on Wednesday. Speaking to TNM, an officer at the police station said that Rajesh had been arrested and work is on to remand him. “Since investigation is in progress, we cannot exactly tell about other suspects in the case,” the officer said.

The woman, who lived in Aandi Siruvallur village near Walajabad, had gone to work on November 21 and did not come back home. Her family lodged a missing persons complaint at the Kancheepuram Taluk police station on November 23. However, she was found dead at a private garden near her house on Wednesday, allegedly with burn marks and bruises on her body.  

Preliminary investigations revealed that the woman had been in a relationship with Rajesh. Rajesh, who lived in the neighbouring village, had allegedly told the woman’s father on November 21 (the day she had gone missing) that he would drop her back home. However, the woman did not reach home that night.

According to her father’s complaint to the police, Rajesh and his daughter were in a relationship and he had told his daughter to forget Rajesh since he belonged to a dominant caste group. “The day my daughter was found dead, my wife and I confronted Rajesh and initially he blamed my daughter for her own death. But a while later he said that my daughter died because of him and challenged me to do whatever I can,” read the complaint.

The complaint also stated that when the woman went missing, one of her siblings contacted Rajesh to check if she was with him. At that time, Rajesh allegedly told the woman’s brother that she was indeed with him.

The police have registered an FIR under Section 306 (Abetment to suicide) of the IPC and Section 3 (r)(s)(v) and (a) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and are investigating.

The police is also awaiting autopsy results of the woman to ascertain whether she had been raped before her death.

Since the woman's death comes at a time when a government veterinary doctor was also found dead in Hyderabad, social media users have expressed their shock and anger at the lack of safety for women in the country.