CHENNAI: “Amma, four people are hacking me.” Those were the last words V Vijayakumar, a 22-year-old BC man, screamed over phone to his mother Vasantha in 2013, moments before he was murdered in Tirunelveli after being lured to a spot with the promise of marriage with the love of his life.
An anganwadi worker from Salem, Vasantha, rushed to the nearest police station after the call. She was directed from one station to another. By the time she reached the right one, her son was already dead.
Thirteen years later, on Friday, her testimony was heard by the Justice K N Basha Prevention of Honour Killing Commission during a public hearing organised by NGO Evidence, where families of ‘honour’ killing victims renewed demand for a separate law.
Vasantha recalled how her son Vijayakumar’s relationship began over the phone while he worked in Dharmapuri. Despite initial opposition, the brother of the woman, who belongs to MBC, signed a police undertaking promising marriage within 3 months.
A shared family meal further convinced Vijayakumar of their acceptance. But after returning home, the woman was allegedly beaten for loving Vijayakumar. Days later, her family asked Vijayakumar to come to Tirunelveli, saying she wanted to meet him. Ignoring his mother’s warnings, he went.
At the railway station, the woman’s brother greeted him with an embrace. “Only later did we realise that the hug was to check whether my son was carrying a knife,” Vasantha said.
Activists argued that honour killings are no longer confined to inter-caste relationships involving SC members. In Tiruvannamalai, 25-year-old Sudhakar was allegedly beaten to death after marrying a woman—who hailed from the MBC community as him—against her family’s wishes.
A Vincentraj alias Kathir, founder of Evidence, said ‘honour killings’ were driven by multiple social factors.
“The root cause of ‘honour killings’ is caste pride. If the government is serious about tackling it, the law must also address caste outfits and public displays of caste pride, including caste-based memorials attended by government functionaries,” said former TN state SC/ST commission vice-chairperson Punitha Pandian.
