A court here Friday ordered the Tamil Nadu government to pay Rs 2 lakh as interim solatium to the family of a man who was killed here for being an atheist two years ago.
Farooq, an activist of the Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam, was murdered on March 16, 2017 for being an atheist and three people were arrested in this connection.
The family of the deceased had filed a petition in the district court seeking solatium, as given by the government for casualties in communal violence.
Based on the petition, principal district judge R Shaktivel ordered the state government to pay Rs one lakh to two children and Rs 50,000 each to the Farooq's widow and parents.
The murder was reportedly the result of Farooq's 'anti-religious', 'anti-God' posts in the social media.