KRISHNAGIRI: In a case of suspected ‘honour killing’, a 50-year-old caste Hindu man hacked to death his 28-year-old son, who married a Dalit girl, at Arunapathy village near Uthangarai in Krishnagiri early on Saturday. While Dhandapani also murdered his 65-year-old mother, his daughter-in-law Anusha who suffered grievous injuries is being treated at Government Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital. Police identified the deceased as D Subash (28) and P Kannammal (65).
According to police sources, the accused allegedly tried to take his life by slashing his neck near Hanumantheertham village late on Saturday. He was secured by the Uthangarai police and admitted to Uthangarai GH. He is out of danger. Based on a complaint from Anusha, police have filed a murder case and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act case against Dhandapani.
According to Uthangarai DSP Amala Advin, Subash fell in love with Anusha (24), a Dalit girl from Ariyalur district who was staying near Subash’s house in Tiruppur. The couple got married on March 27. According to sources, Subash’s father P Dhandapani was not happy with his son’s inter-caste love marriage. Two weeks back, Subash started a new job as a bank agent in Tirupattur and the couple moved to Tirupattur.
Dhandapani, who was working as a tailor in Tiruppur, came to Arunapathy last week and asked his mother Kannammal to invite the couple to her home. On Friday evening, Subash and Anusha came to Kannammal’s house in Arunapathy. According to sources, Dhandapani interacted with the couple and even served them palm fruits.
However, in the wee hours of Saturday, Dhandapani attacked his son and mother with a sickle and also tried to kill his daughter-in-law Anusha, who managed to escape.
Police sent the bodies of the victims to Uthangarai GH for a postmortem. The injured Anusha, who was sent to Krishnagiri Medical College Hospital, was later referred to Government Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital on Saturday evening.
Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) state general secretary K Samuel Raj, who condemned the attack, said the request to enact a special law against honour killing has not been heeded by the state government yet. TNUEF will stage protest against the murder in Krishnagiri on Sunday, he said.
CPM district secretary GK Nanjundan too condemned the murder. The state government should give Rs 25 lakh and a government job to Anusha. All the accused should be arrested, he said.
Last month, a man murdered his son-in-law, who belonged to his own caste, in Krishnagiri.