Girl’s father surrendered to the police for murdering his son-in-law.
By Dileep Thekkethil
A shocking incident of honour killing in Tamil Nadu was captured on CCTV footage when a couple was attacked by hooligans leaving the husband from a Dalit community dead and the wife in serious condition.
The brutal incident happened in broad day light in Udumalpet, Tirupur, on Sunday. The culprits who came in three bikes, first attacked the couple using sharp weapons, later hacking to death 22-year-old V Shankar.
Shankar who is from a Dalit community hails from Chavadi Street in Kumaralingam village. He married 19-year-old Kausalya who was from an upper caste despite the contention from her family and continued living together.
Shankar met Kausalya while at college in Palani, where she was as his junior. Both fell in love and decided to get married, but Kausalya’s parent vehemently objected. Defying Kausalya’s parents both got married eight-months ago
According to the police, the intercaste marriage left a scar on Kausalya’s family and this is the reason why her father took the extreme step.
Police commissioner N Manjunatha was quoted by AFP saying “they married some eight months ago and the woman’s family was unhappy. She is an upper Thevar Hindu caste and the man was a Dalit.”
In the video footage, Shankar and Kausalya can be seen walking through the market when suddenly three men in a bike stops in front of them. The assailants armed with sharp weapons starts attacking both and later hacks Shankar to death.
When Kausalya reaches out to help Shankar, the assailants start trashing her. In her attempt to save the life of Shankar, Kausalya severely injured her head and is now admitted to the hospital.
The video footage of the incident has been acquired by police and are now on a hunt to nab the attackers. But even as the police search and find operation for the assailants is in full swing, they haven’t been able to get any particular lead 24 hours after the attack took place.
According to reports, Kausalya’s father has surrendered to the police for murdering his son-in-law.
Sankar’s father Velu Samy said to NDTV, “We thought her parents would accept them but it has ended in this bloody tragedy. We have lost him”.
It is reported that Kausalya’s father has been repeatedly threatening her, asking her to come back or face dire consequences. Following this, the couple had lodged a complaint in the police station against her father.
A police officer was quoted by The Indian Express Saying “Kausalya had filed a complaint at the local police station against her father a few weeks ago, stating that he had been threatening them and insisting that she return home.”
After their marriage almost eight months back, Shankar and Kausalya were living at Komaralingam. Shankar continued with his studies whereas Kausalya discontinued and joined a private company near Udumalpet.
In the meanwhile, the incident has taken a political turn after the DMK accused Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and her police of being ineffective in finding the culprits. The also accused the chief minister of insensitivity while dealing with issues of the Dalits.
“This is going in Tamil Nadu for sometime. The AIADMK government’s police isn’t sensitive to such issues. There should be policemen going around. How did this happen when everyone is watching and no one stopped the culprits. The footage shows the culprits. The police should arrest the culprits. Police are inactive. This is an uncivilised act,” said DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan.
PL Punia, the chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has sought a report from the Tamil Nadu government on the murder of the Dalit engineering student.
“It is a shocking incident. We have sought answers from Tamil Nadu government. We have seen that there has been many cases of Dalit atrocities in Tamil Nadu. I will personally visit Tamil Nadu. There needs to be sensitivity regarding security of Dalits,” Punia said.
Tamil Nadu has seen an increase in cases related to caste based violence in the past few years. In 2013, another Dalit man was murdered and his body was thrown into a railway track for marrying a woman from higher caste. Recently, last year, another young Dalit went missing after he allegedly talked to a woman of higher caste. His body was later found from the Namakkal district.
YouTube Video of Dalit man being hacked to death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UlyeHH3TPw