CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on August 4 expressed anguish and concern over the increasing number of 'honour killings' in Tamil Nadu and questioned how there appeared to be 'no end' to such heinous crimes in the State.
Justice P Velmurugan made the comments while transferring a suspected case of honour killing of a Scheduled Caste student in Cuddalore district in May this year from the local police to the Crime Branch-CID.
“So many cases of honour killing are reported in the state of Tamil Nadu, but unfortunately, there is no full stop (end to such crimes). The honour killings are increasing day by day,” he said, adding that the truth behind such crimes is not brought to the forefront.
The petition to transfer the investigation was filed by M Murugesan, the father of the deceased youngster M Jayasuriya, a BCom student from Arasakuli village in Cuddalore district.
The judge directed the respondent police to hand over the case records immediately to the CB-CID, which was ordered to hold a “fair investigation” to bring out the truth.
Advocate A Arasuganesan, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the deceased had fallen in love with a girl belonging to a dominant community.
On May 18, 2025, he was forcibly taken on a motorcycle by his collegemate Praveen, who never returned. When his father called him up several times, he responded once, saying that he was with Praveen and another person named Jeevan.
However, he later got a call from the Kullanchavadi police station, informing that his son had died in a road accident as per a complaint given by Jeevan, the counsel said.
He submitted that there is a suspected involvement of a professor, belonging to the girl’s community, as he was present at the place of occurrence, mysteriously.
He also said the girl’s brother-in-law had threatened Jayasuriya and warned him against continuing his relationship with her. Alleging lethargy on the part of the district police, he prayed for the court to order to hand of the probe to another agency.
However, the government advocate appearing for the police submitted that investigations were still underway and the preliminary probe had found that it was a case of motor vehicle accident due to rash driving.
The police had also submitted that the two-wheeler had hit a roadside electric pole as the trio was returning from Cuddalore to their village at night on the day of the incident.
He told the court the police were awaiting the report of the postmortem to ascertain the cause of death. However, the judge countered him, asking whether the postmortem could disclose whether the victim died in the accident or was forcibly taken and murdered by somebody.
“Postmortem has nothing to do with the occurrence of the incident. Only a thorough probe will bring out the truth,” Justice Velmurugan said.
Stating that the court is also suspicious of the probe by the district police, the judge said it is a fit case for transferring the investigation.
Notably, the counsel had also informed the court that the girl belonged to the (Pudukkoorapettai) village where the horrific honour killing of Kannagi (who belonged to an MBC community) and Murugesan (who belonged a Scheduled Caste) took place in 2003.
