Man hacked to death by wife’s family in Kerala

A 27-year-old man was hacked to death allegedly by his wife’s father and uncle in Kerala’s Palakkad district on Friday night in a suspected case of “honour killing”. Both of them have been arrested, police said.

The victim Aneesh, who belonged to the OBC blacksmith community, had married Haritha, 21, after several years of friendship, which began from their school days.

Haritha belonged to Vellar Pillai (a community of Tamil origin). Besides, she hailed from a well-to-do family while Aneesh was a daily wager. They had married some three months back, and since then have been allegedly facing threat.

According to police, Aneesh was hacked to death on Friday night while he was riding a two-wheeler with his brother Arun. While Aneesh stopped the bike near a shop on his way to home at Thenkurussi village in Palakkad, his father-in-law Prabhu Kumar and uncle Suresh Kumar, who had followed the brothers, attacked Aneesh. A seriously injured Aneesh died while he was being taken to the hospital.

Palakkad district police superintendent Sujith Das said police have arrested the woman’s father and uncle. “As the couple belonged to different castes, we prima facie assume that it is a case of ‘honour killing’. A detailed probe is on and statements are being recorded. The murder has happened after a series of incidents over the last three months. After the marriage, both parties were summoned to the police station. The girl’s family had agreed not to trouble the newly-wed couple. Even after that, her uncle reacted emotionally against the marriage. He wanted the girl to come out of the relationship. On Friday also, the uncle had a tiff with the youth, which later in the day 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 he would be finished off before the marriage complete three months. We had lodged a complaint with the local police, but they failed to act timely,” he alleged.

However, the SP said there was no lapse their in addressing the complaint. “They lodged a complaint on December 8, two days before the local body elections. Our entire force was deployed in election duty. Yet, we acted timely and told both sides to settle the issue,” he said.