“As the father of Shankar you should have made him a cobbler making him discontinue his education after Standard V or VIII. You could have had a livelihood had he been a cobbler and he would not have gone to heaven so soon,” – says a letter addressed to Velusamy, father of the slain Dalit youth Shankar.

An anonymous hate letter has warned all such people contemplating inter-caste marriages that “Anyone who does not obey will find his head severed from his body”.

“Inter-caste marriages are common only in foreign countries and not in India, and never in Tamil Nadu. You should have warned her and sent her away to her parents, which could have assured your son’s existence,” the letter says.

In what could be an attempt to instigate hate among the family members of V. Shankar who was killed last Sunday for marrying a caste Hindu girl in Udumalpet, some unknown miscreants have written this letter threatening them with dire consequences.

In a letter written by a certain Allavutheen from Onnipalayam in Karamadai, which is believed to be a fake identity, the miscreant terming himself a Dalit, has questioned Velusamy’s decision to send Shankar to college. He has asked whether his son would have bought theatres or bus routes or become a caste Hindu because of his education.

There was also a mention that his son would have been safer if he had decided to send back Kousalya to her parental home soon after she married his son.

The writer has claimed that officials, including MP, MLA, Councillors, businessmen and other officials were all caste Hindus who ran the show.

The letter has upset the family of Shankar who have sought the intervention of the police.

The Komaralingam police visited the house and have started the investigation. They are on the lookout for the miscreants.