Udumalpet honour killing—four assailants nabbed after CCTV footage goes viral

8 years ago

Image courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com

Four persons were detained in connection with the murder of the 22-year-old dalit youth Shankar in Udumalpet, Tamil Nadu, on Sunday.

According to the police the four persons—Jegadeesan, Selvakumar, Manikantan and Madan—are Chinnasamy’s friends. Chinnasamy is Shankar’s wife’s (Kausalya, 19) father. Chinnasamy, who runs a travel agency in the town, surrendered before the Judical Magistrate Court in Nilakottai (Dindigul district) on Monday.

Three machete-wielding assailants attacked Shankar and Kausalya in broad daylight at a bus stop in the town and fled on a motorbike. Shankar died on the way to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital. Kausalya, who had tried to rescue her husband and suffered multiple injuries to the head, is said to be recovering in the same hospital. Doctors at the hospital say her condition is stable.

It is apparent from the viral CCTV camera footage that the assilants targeted Shankar. The public had additionally photographed the assailants in the act and as they fled. This helped the police identify them quickly.

Media reports say that the couple, who married in July 2015 against Chinnasamy’s wish, lived in Komaralingam (near Udumalpet), Shankar’s native village.

Shankar and Kausalya were students at a private engineering college in Pollachi. Kausalya had stopped going to college after the marriage, whereas Shankar continued his studies.

According to a fact-finding team from Evidence, a human rights organisation, Shankar had constantly received threats from Chinnasamy and his family since the wedding. They had even kidnapped Kausalya and taken her to Usilampatti. She was later rescued by the police.

“Even last week, Kausalya’s parents came to Komaralingam and offered Rs 10 lakh to Shankar’s family to send the girl with them. When she objected to this, they threatened her with dire consequences. Shankar was also threatened often. Had the Madathakkulam police taken action on his complaints, this murder could have been averted,” said Kathir, executive director of Evidence.

Udumalpet police registered a case under Section 302 (murder) of IPC and also filed charges against the accused under the provisions of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The police reportedly identified two of the assailants with the help of the CCTV footage.

People of Komarlingam, on Monday, staged a roadblock demanding a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs for Shankar’s family and a government-based job for Kausalya.

Kathir believes that this atrocious act certainly is ‘honour killing’. He underlined the need for a harsh law in place to prevent acts of honour killing in the country. According to him, in Tamil Nadu alone, 81 such cases were reported since July 2003. Most of the victims in these cases were women. In several cases, women who married or fell in love with men from a different caste were killed and their bodies burnt to wipe out evidence.