CHENNAI: Leaders of Left parties and the VCK met DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin here on Wednesday, urging the enactment of a special law to prevent honour killings in the state assembly. They also enquired about his health.
VCK chief and Chidambaram MP Thol. Thirumavalavan, CPI state secretary R. Mutharasan, and CPM state secretary P. Shanmugam met the Chief Minister at his camp office, and the meeting went on for about half an hour. Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin was present.
They also handed over a petition to the Chief Minister, demanding a special law to prevent caste-based honour killings and to provide protection for inter-caste and inter-religious married couples.
According to sources, the leaders stated in the petition that inter-caste marriages have faced severe attacks from those allegedly seeking to perpetuate the caste hierarchy, and they highlighted the recent murder of IT professional Kavin Selva Ganesh in Tirunelveli. They also noted that many young lives have been lost in similar incidents over the past decade.
They stressed that existing criminal laws were insufficient to prevent such crimes and highlighted various recommendations, petitions, and court directions calling for a special bill to prevent offences committed in the name of honour and tradition. This included a private member’s bill introduced by former CPM MLA A. Soundarrajan in the Assembly in 2015.
“If any inter-caste couples are killed, registering the case under a special honour killing law, rather than as a regular murder case, will help in gathering evidence, increasing awareness, and creating public opinion against such crimes. Charging such cases as ordinary murders, as is done now, does not take into account the role of social pressure in these crimes,” their petition read.
The leaders also elaborated on the limitations of the SC/ST (POA) Act when crimes happen against a non-Dalit member who has married a Dalit. They further pointed out that such crimes occur against inter-caste married couples from two intermediate castes.
The Chief Minister listened to the leaders’ explanations and asked for clarifications intermittently.
Ministers K.N. Nehru, E.V. Velu, T.M. Anbarasan, and VCK deputy general secretary Vanniarasu were among those present at the meeting.