A 27-year-old man was beaten to death, allegedly by his wife’s father and uncle in Kerala’s Palakkad district on Friday night in an alleged “honor killing” case. Both have been arrested, police said.
The victim Aneesh, who belonged to the OBC blacksmith community, had married Haritha, 21, after several years of friendship, beginning from their school days.
Haritha belonged to Vellar Pillai (a community of Tamil origin). Also, he came from a wealthy family, while Aneesh was a daily gamble. They had been married for about three months and have reportedly faced threats since then.
According to police, Aneesh was beaten to death on Friday night while riding in a two-wheeler with his brother Arun. While Aneesh stopped the bicycle near a shop on the way home in the village of Thenkurussi in Palakkad, his father-in-law Prabhu Kumar and his uncle Suresh Kumar, who had followed the brothers, attacked Aneesh. Aneesh, seriously injured, died while being taken to hospital.
Palakkad District Police Superintendent Sujith Das said police arrested the woman’s father and uncle. “As the couple belonged to different castes, we prima facie assume that this is an ‘honor killing’ case. A detailed investigation is underway and statements are being recorded. The murder has occurred after a series of incidents over the past three months. After the marriage, both parties were summoned to the police station. The girl’s family had agreed not to disturb the newly married couple. Even after that, her uncle reacted emotionally against the marriage. He wanted the girl to get out of the relationship. On Friday also, the uncle had a fight with the young man, which later led to the murder, ” he said.
The victim’s father, Arumughan, said his son had been facing threats since the marriage.
Haritha’s uncle Suresh had threatened Aneesh. He (Suresh) told my son that they would end it before the marriage was three months old. We had filed a complaint with the local police, but they did not act in time, “he alleged.
However, the SP said there was no lapse in addressing the complaint. “They filed a complaint on December 8, two days before the local body elections. Our entire force was deployed in electoral functions. However, we acted on time and told both parties to solve the problem, ”he said.
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