‘Thrashed with sticks, plastic pipes': Rehab home staff beat Tamil Nadu youth with ADHD to death
A 24-year-old with ADHD, Varunkanth, was allegedly beaten to death by caretakers at a rehabilitation center near Pollachi after being admitted in February 2025. Police exhumed his body and arrested four individuals involved in the crime.
COIMBATORE: Police on Saturday exhumed the body of the 24-year-old youth with ADHD who went missing from a rehabilitation centre near Pollachi and said he had been beaten to death by the caretakers.
Four people have been arrested for the crime.
"The youth behaved very aggressively at the home. The trustees and staff of the rehabilitation home beat him with sticks and plastic pipes on multiple occasions from May 9. The youth was beaten to death on May 12," said Dr K Karthikeyan, superintendent of police, Coimbatore district.
After the arrest of four people, police learned that on May 13, they buried the body on land the centre owned near Nadupuni.
Police said Shaji and Dr Kavitha, who were trustees of the home, were the masterminds. They are still on the run.
"Our six special police teams are working to nab the remaining people," said a police officer.
Staff visited dam to cook up 'missing' plot
The family admitted Varunkanth to Yuthira Charitable Trust (Special Children Care and Training Centre) at Rathinasabapathy Puram in Pollachi for rehabilitation on Feb 4, 2025.
The family agreed to pay Rs 40,000 a month and Rs 1 lakh as donation to the home. The initial amount of Rs 50,000 as a donation was paid. The parents were to visit their son once every six months.
The youth's father, Ravikumar, received information on May 15 that he went missing when all 27 inmates of the home were taken to the Aliyar dam.
Ravikumar filed a police complaint and investigations began.
"Initially, the home staff cooperated with the police.
Meanwhile, we came to know that the boy was murdered, and the body was buried," said SP Karthikeyan.
The police formed six special teams and arrested Giriram, 36, a native of Thiruvannamalai, who worked as a trustee of the rehabilitation home, another trustee's father Senthil Babu, 54, from Pollachi, Nithish, 26, staff of the home, and Ranganayaki, 36, from Thoppampatti near Pollachi. The arrested persons confessed to the murder and were remanded in judicial custody on Saturday night.
"The trustees and staff visited the Aliyar dam and park area on May 14 to cook up a story that Varunkanth went missing. They chose areas where CCTVs were not covered in the Aliyar area," police said.
The decomposed body of Varunkanth was exhumed on Saturday evening, and a spot postmortem was carried out. Later, the body was handed over to the family.
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