THOOTHUKUDI: Human rights activists have demanded that the recent murder of a 19-year-old youth at Kovilpatti be treated as an “honour killing”, even though both the victim and the accused belong to the same Scheduled Caste (SC) community.
M Sanjay, son of Manickam and Murugeswari of Karadikulam village, was allegedly murdered in front of his 17-year-old lover by her father Kumar, and her two relatives, Marimuthu and Sankaranarayanan on May 17.
A fact-finding team led by Evidence executive director A Kathir alleged that the prime accused, Kumar, had deliberately lured Sanjay on the pretext of discussing marriage, with an ulterior motive to kill him.
Kathir argued that even though both families belong to the same caste, the murder stemmed from a patriarchal mindset unwilling to allow a young woman to choose her life partner. He has urged the state government to enact a separate law against honour killings.