KRISHNAGIRI: In the Krishnagiri honour killing of an inter-caste couple, it was the T-shirt worn by the youth that enabled their identification, police said. The bodies of N Nandish (25), a Dalit, and S Swathi (21), a Vanniyar, of Soodukondapalli, near Shoolagiri, who had married against the wishes of the girl’s parents, were found in the Cauvery in Karnataka.
Nandish’s brother had filed a complaint on November 14 with the Hosur Town police that they had gone missing. Following this, they had started investigations, which led to M Krishnan (26) of Punuganthotti village, a relative of Swathi. Later, they also questioned Swathi’s father L Srinivasan (40) of Soodukondapalli and his brothers L Venkatesh (43) and L Ashwathappa (45).
Meanwhile, the Karnataka police fished out two bodies, on separate days, from the Cauvery at Sivanasamuthira in Mandya district. The youth was wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Ambedkar and the slogan ‘Jai Bheem’. As it also had the name of a village, Choodaganapalli, they suspected him to be from Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh.
On November 15, the Karnataka police visited Hosur and sought the help of the police to identify the bodies. The Hosur Town police then confronted Swathi’s family members, who denied any role in the matter. However, on further questioning, they admitted to the murder of Nandish and Swathi, said police sources.
On the night of November 10, the couple had come to see actor Kamal Haasan during his campaign at Ramnagar in Hosur, where Swathi’s relative Krishnan saw the couple and initiated a conversation. He also informed Swathi’s family members, including her father, about the couple’s whereabouts. They directly came to the place by an SUV and urged the couple to have a wedding function with the family’s blessings.
The youths believed the family’s show of goodwill to be genuine and got into the vehicle. But instead of taking them home, they were driven across the border to Karnataka. Nandish, who suspected something amiss, began to resist them. Swathi’s relatives then started assaulting them; they were beaten and hacked. They also shaved Swathi’s head as a mark of disgrace. After this, their hands and feet were bound and thrown into the Cauvery, they added.
Kidnap vehicle found On Saturday night, the Hosur police found an abandoned SUV at Balavanapalli, 5 km from victims’ village of Soodukondapalli. This was the vehicle that Swathi’s family members used to kidnap the couple, they said, adding that its driver, K Swaminathan (30), would be arrested soon.
The police have already arrested Swathi’s father, L Srinivasan, his brother Venkatesh, and M Krishnan, their relative. They are on the lookout for four others involved in the murder. Meanwhile, a special team of the Karnataka police, led by Circle Inspector Srikanth of the Maralavadi police, have arrived for their investigation into the case.