32 devotees on padayatra to Palani killed on Dindigul roads since 2020
MADURAI: A total of 32 devotees undertaking padyatra to Dhandayudapani Temple in Palani were killed and 107 were injured in road accidents in Dindigul district since 2020.
According to a response given by police department in a reply to a RTI query filed by TNIE, in 2020 three people died and six people were injured, 2021 reported two deaths and 10 injured, 2022 reported 12 deaths and 25 injured, 2023 reported six deaths and 28 injured, 2024 reported three deaths, and 23 injured, and upto April 2025, six deaths were reported on the national highways, state highways, and even village roads in Dindigul leading to Palani.
G Dheenadayalan, ward councillor of Palani municipality, told TNIE, 'Over 1.5 lakh devotees take up padayatra to the Palani temple during Thaipusam festival, and around 40,000 people visit the temple every day during Pongal. However, they are under constant fear of being hit by vehicles. This happens mostly during the night and early morning due to poor visibility.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
9 hours ago
- Time of India
‘15 RTI pleas, protests & a long legal battle'
Mumbai: Advocate Godfrey Pimenta, upon learning of Kurla's Hotel City Kinara fire that killed eight in Oct 2015, said they promptly decided to hold a dharna outside the Vinoba Bhave Nagar police station, demanding the immediate arrest of those responsible. Despite being threatened with arrest for holding the protest, they proceeded with it, joined by grieving parents. "Subsequently, we submitted 15 to 20 applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, seeking extensive documentation from the licence department and the buildings and factories department of the BMC, Mumbai fire brigade, HPCL, and other relevant agencies. Equipped with substantial information obtained through the RTI Act, we filed a formal complaint with Maharashtra Lokayukta, seeking compensation for the bereaved families. We also organised protests at Kurla, and held a dharna at Azad Maidan, demanding a CBI inquiry," said Pimenta. In a gesture reminiscent of Munnabhai MBBS, he said they left flower bouquets along with 'Get Well Soon' placards outside the home of the then municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta. In Feb 2017, the Lokayukta granted a compensation of Rs 1 lakh. Pimenta said they then approached Bombay High Court. "We are deeply gratified by the recent judgment and would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to senior counsel Naushad Engineer and his team, as well as advocate Jayesh Mestry, who appeared pro bono in support of this just cause."tnn
NDTV
16 hours ago
- NDTV
Why Karnataka Pills Case Is A Sinister Throwback To Curry & Cyanide And Kerala's Jolly Joseph
New Delhi: There's something deeply unsettling about food being weaponised. A ritual of love and nourishment, it becomes monstrous when stirred with malice. Netflix's Curry & Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph Case taps into this primal fear: that the person serving your meal might also be plotting your murder. It's a fear made more chilling by the fact that the show isn't fiction. It's based on the baffling and brutal true-crime story of Jolly Joseph, a woman whose seemingly ordinary life in Kerala's Koodathayi village unravelled into a web of deceit, ambition and cyanide-laced killings. And if that weren't enough, life decided to imitate art again. Two years after Curry & Cyanide aired, Karnataka's Hassan district reported a case so eerily similar that it reads like an uncommissioned sequel, this time featuring sleeping pills, stewed in a family's daily meals, all for love gone rotten. The Netflix Documentary That Stirred Up Old Ghosts Directed by Christo Tomy and written by Shalini Ushadevi, Curry & Cyanide is Netflix's chilling foray into one of Kerala's most shocking true-crime stories. Running at 107 minutes, the documentary dives into the life and lies of Jolly Joseph, a woman who is accused of killing six people over 14 years - all connected by family ties and, allegedly, by poison. Though the title suggests a culinary-criminal connection, the show makes it clear: neither curry nor cyanide was consistently used in the crimes. What was, however, consistent was Joseph's ability to convince everyone she was someone else - an educated woman, a government employee, a loving wife. She was none of those. The documentary unfolds like a psychological thriller, but unlike a good mystery novel, it has no final reveal. The sessions court is still hearing the case, and despite Joseph's reported confession, a definitive legal closure remains elusive. Six Deaths. One Woman. Too Many Lies. The Koodathayi deaths began in 2002 and ended, or rather, came to light, in 2019. Over 14 years, six members of a single family died under suspicious circumstances. All were connected to Jolly Joseph. It started with her mother-in-law, Annamma Thomas, who collapsed after a walk and a glass of water. Doctors attributed it to a heart attack. In 2008, Jolly's father-in-law, Tom Thomas, also died suddenly. Then, in 2011, her husband Roy Thomas died after consuming a curry made by Jolly; his death was ruled a suicide after traces of poison were found in his stomach. The suspicion could've ended there. But in 2014, Roy's uncle Mathew Manjayadil, who had pushed for a second post-mortem, died after consuming whisky allegedly given by Jolly. That same year, her soon-to-be second husband Shaju's two-year-old daughter died after allegedly choking on food. Two years later, Shaju's wife, Sily, too, died reportedly after ingesting capsules Jolly had offered to treat her depression. It was only in 2018, when Roy's brother Rojo Thomas dug out his sibling's autopsy report via an RTI application, that the narrative began to unravel. The inconsistencies in food timings, symptoms and testimonies couldn't be ignored. Jolly's perfect housewife image fell apart. In 2019, she was arrested, along with two men, a former lover and a goldsmith who had allegedly helped her procure the cyanide. The motive? Possibly property. Possibly power. Definitely control. A Case Too 'Cinematic' To Be True And Yet It Is The Koodathayi case had all the makings of a film, which is perhaps why it has been adapted so many times. In 2020, Death, Lies & Cyanide, a Spotify original podcast narrated by journalist Sashi Kumar, chronicled the chilling details. Malayalam serials like Krithyam and Koodathayi recreated the story under fictional names, with actors like Muktha, Mallika Sukumaran and Dayyana Hamid reimagining Jolly's duplicity. Sony TV's Crime Patrol devoted three full episodes to the case. Films are on the anvil too: Antony Perumbavoor's upcoming movie starring Mohanlal is reportedly based on the incident, as is actress Dini Daniel's film in which she plays Jolly. Disney+ Hotstar is developing Anali, a web series helmed by Midhun Manuel Thomas, with Nikhila Vimal and Leona Lishoy in the lead roles, inspired by the murders. Clearly, the public cannot look away. When History Repeats Itself Just when we thought the Koodathayi case was an aberration, a dark echo arrived from Karnataka's Hassan district in June 2024. Chaitra, a 33-year-old woman and mother of two, was arrested for attempting to murder her husband, children and in-laws by poisoning their meals - in this case, with sleeping pills and toxic medicines. Her motive? To continue her affair with a local man named Shivu. According to the police, Chaitra had been rotating medications in food for over two months. The symptoms, dizziness, fatigue and long naps, were mistaken for common ailments. It was only when her husband, Gajendra, accidentally opened her bag and found a stash of pills that suspicions grew. Medical tests confirmed what the family feared: they had been systematically poisoned. The children, heartbreakingly, admitted they had seen their mother mixing powders into coffee and food. Chaitra was arrested. Shivu remains on the run. It's a case that mirrors Jolly's in chilling ways: a woman trusted by her family, a seemingly peaceful domestic setting and a slow poisoning method that thrived under the illusion of normalcy. Trust, Twisted What connects the Kerala and Karnataka cases isn't just the methodology. It's the profound betrayal of trust. Both Jolly and Chaitra weaponised familial love and domesticity. They used the kitchen as a crime scene. They fed their victims death, disguised as dinner. There's something inherently horrific about being harmed by the person you live with, the one who kisses your children goodnight or sits across from you at lunch. These stories rattle the very foundation of human relationships, that love should protect, not kill. What Curry & Cyanide Gets Right (And Wrong) While Curry & Cyanide doesn't deliver a conclusive verdict (because legally, it can't), it offers something more unsettling - ambiguity. It portrays a family trying to make sense of repeated tragedies, a village that looked the other way and a police force that woke up too late. Critically, the show also highlights something many true-crime shows forget: justice is not instant. The sessions court is still hearing the case. Jolly's confession could be retracted. Evidence can be contested. And yet, in the court of public opinion, she's already condemned. A Cautionary Tale, Served Cold The real-life cases of Jolly Joseph and Chaitra are not only about murder; they're about manipulation, about how trust can be the perfect camouflage for cruelty. Netflix's Curry & Cyanide is a gripping, if imperfect, retelling of a case that continues to haunt India's collective conscience. The next time we see a family gathered around a dining table onscreen or in our own homes, a quiet thought may sneak in: how well do we really know the person passing us the plate? Because sometimes, the most dangerous place isn't the dark alley. It's the dinner table.
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
Surat CP invokes PASA against 14, including ex-councillor
Surat: Surat police commissioner Anupam Singh Gahlaut has invoked the Gujarat Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA) against 14 persons, including three-term Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) councillor Prakash Desai. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The former councillor, who was accused in three FIRs filed by Udhna police for , was shifted to the Rajkot jail after the PASA order. Desai was first arrested by Surat special operations group (SOG) police for allegedly accepting extortion money at his house. The complainant reportedly recorded a video of Desai in the act. According to police, Desai would 'misuse' the Right to Information (RTI) Act and would lodge complaints with the SMC to extort money from businessmen, traders and school owners, threatening them with the demolition of their properties. Desai previously served three terms as an independent councillor from the Udhna ward. In addition to Desai, the history-sheeter Sajid Kothari, alias Sajju Kothari, was also booked under PASA and sent to Bhuj jail. Kothari has a criminal history involving 35 cases, including attempted murder, extortion, abduction, rioting, Arms Act violations, prohibition offences and gambling. This is the seventh time Kothari has been jailed under PASA. He has also been charged under the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GujCTOC) Act twice and was previously externed from Surat due to his alleged criminal activities. The others booked under PASA are history-sheeters Rajuram Bishnoi, Shravan Bishnoi, Dipak Yadav, Sunil Sadashiv, Shana Parveen Shaikh, Mehul Parmar, Durgesh Sinh, Alpesh Lashkari, Jitu Tank, Dilip Rathod, Mahesh Nayka and Rizwan Khan. These persons have been shifted to jails in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Bhuj and Mehsana.
