Grief-stricken relatives throng Thirumaniselvam's house

Trying hard to control their emotions, relatives and locals today gathered at the residence of a 22-year-old man, who was killed in stone-pelting in Jammu and Kashmir, to mourn the loss even as a pall of gloom descended on the locality here.

R Thirumaniselvam, a tourist from Chennai, suffered head injuries after being hit by a stone when a mob went on a rampage on the outskirts of Srinagar yesterday.

His body was brought here this evening by a private flight with his parents accompanying it from Srinagar via Delhi.

Those in the neighbourhood described Thirumaniselvam as a 'good' man.

Some of them expressed shock over the death.

A youngster's life had been snuffed out in the hill state, they said as they gathered to pay their last respects.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti termed the death of Thirumaniselvam whose vehicle was targeted by stone-pelters the "murder of humanity" and said the incident had "rattled" the mother in her.

Those who pick up stones to kill someone have no religion, she said after meeting the father of Thirumaniselvam, who was holidaying in the Valley with his family.

"It is very sad and heartbreaking", she said. Thirumaniselvam and his family were returning from Gulmarg when their vehicle was caught in stone pelting near Magam area of Budgam.

A stone hit the young man on his right temple and he was rushed to the Soura Institute of Medical Sciences where he died.

Opposition NC Working President Omar Abdullah had said yesterday, "We've killed a tourist by throwing stones at the ehicle he was travelling in.

Let's try and wrap our heads around the fact that we stoned a tourist, a guest, to death while we glorify these stone pelters & their methods."