Tamil Nadu was among the first few states to go to polls on 19th April. Just as the controversy about the voting percentage settled down, another arose. News media in the state reported a case of a lady getting beaten to death and this caused a flutter among the people. The police in the state has however flagged it as ‘fake news’.

According to local reports, on April 19th, a group of Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) supporters allegedly assaulted a woman named Gomathi in Pakkirimaniyam village, Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu, for voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The attack took place at Gomathi’s residence after the DMK supporters learned of her BJP vote, as reported by Dinamalar.

Following a heated argument, the assailants brutally attacked Gomathi, questioning her choice of vote, as reported by Nakkheeran. She, however, succumbed to her injuries. Nakheeran has however deleted the report from their website now. 

Upon receiving information, the police swiftly arrived at the scene and transferred Gomathi’s body to Vrudhachalam Government Hospital for autopsy.

The authorities are currently searching for seven suspects: Arul, Pandian, Arivumani, Ravi, Raja, Kalaimani, and Dharmaraj, according to a report by Dinamalar.

Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai condemned the incident, labeling it as a grave threat to democracy, in a post on his social media X handle.

Meanwhile, three women have been arrested in connection with Gomathi’s murder, as per police reports.

Despite initial claims of a political motive, Tamil Nadu police later asserted that Gomathi’s death resulted from a long-standing feud between two families in the area. According to the statement released by Cuddalore Police, the altercation stemmed from historical animosity between two families – those of Kalamani and Jayashankar.

The police stated that the confrontation escalated while both parties were unarmed, with Gomathi inadvertently getting involved and sustaining fatal injuries in the process. A case has been registered against 10 individuals, with five already arrested and remanded to judicial custody.

The police dismissed allegations of the attack being politically motivated and labelled related videos as fake, emphasizing the incident’s “familial” context. In response to the alleged false information circulating on social media, Tamil Nadu Police warned of strict legal action against those spreading misinformation.

Latest update from family members

In a startling revelation late night on 22 April, TN BJP chief Annamalai shared a video of the deceased woman’s family members confirming that Gomathi (the deceased) was indeed beaten up by DMK goons for voting for the BJP in the elections on 19 April.