Youth murdered in TN town in suspected honour killing

Karur (TN), Mar 27: In yet another suspected honour killing in Tamil Nadu, a youth was hacked to death in a liquor bar here apparently for marrying a girl against the wishes of her family a year ago.

Police said Suresh Arockiasamy was attacked by a four- member gang with sickles used to open tender coconuts when he was having a drink at the bar attached to a state-run liquor outlet late last night. The victim, in his mid 20s, died while being rushed to a hospital.

Police said a man called them over phone and informed that he had hired the gang to kill Arockiasamy because he had married his sister against his wish and brought dishonour to the family.

The latest incident comes barely a fortnight after a Dalit youth was hacked to death in full public view at a bus stand in Tirupur in a suspected honour killing for marrying a Hindu girl of different caste who escaped the attack. The Tirupur incident led to public outrage.

The video footage of the savage attack, carried out allegedly at the behest of the girl's father, went viral and several political parties condemned such honour killings. Police in Karur said they were trying to gather evidence, including possible CCTV recordings in the area.

They said Arockiasamy had married the girl one year ago and she was recently "kidnapped" by her relatives. When the girl was produced in the Madras High Court after a habeas corpus petition was filed, she had opted to go with her parents.

It was against this back ground that Arockiaswamy had been murdered, police said. A special team had been formed to investigate the murder, police added.

PTI