CHENNAI: In a case of ‘caste killing‘, a 22-year-old dalit youth was hacked to death by his wife’s brother and four others at Pallikaranai in Chennai’s suburbs on Saturday night, police said. Police have arrested five people in connection with the murder.
Police said G Praveen alias Ashiq of Pallikaranai, a bike mechanic, was in a rela- tionship with D Sharmila, 20, a fourth year college student, at Jalladianpet since their school days. They got married last Oct against the wishes of Sharmila’s family. Sharmila’s family members were enraged as Praveen belonged to a different caste than theirs.
Around 9pm on Saturday, Praveen had gone to a shop in Pallikaranai to buy dinner for his family when he got a call from one of his friends, Sriram, who later turned out to be an accused in the murder case. “Sriram called Praveen to a place where Sharmila’s brother and his gang lay in wait,” said a police officer. “They hacked him to death.” The officer said the victim suffered several cuts on his body.
‘My family couldn’t digest the fact that my husband was from another caste’
Passersby rushed Praveen to Chromepet Government Hospital where he was declared dead. Police sent the body for postmortem and handed it over to his family.
Investigations revealed that apart from the caste hatred, there was also a revenge angle to the crime.
In 2022, Praveen was one of the accused in the murder of a ganja peddler called Shyam Bright at Sithalapakkam. Shyam’s friends, who were waiting to exact revenge, joined hands with the woman’s brother, D Dinesh, to murder Praveen, police said.
Sharmila, who was shattered seeing her husband’s body, blamed her brother for her husband’s killing “My family couldn’t digest the fact that my husband was from a different caste,” she said. “When we were having a self-respect marriage, my brother barged into the registrar’s office and threatened to kill us,” she had.
Praveen’s uncle Kaviarasu recollected how Sharmila’s family had once come home soon after the marriage and threatened the couple. “Last week, Sharmila’s father and brother went to her college while Praveen went to drop her and created a ruckus,” he said.
The Pallikaranai police arrested Dinesh, 23, of Jalladianpet, N Sriram, 18, S Vishnu Raj, 25, of Chitlapakkam, R Stephen Kumar, 24, of Sithalapakkam, and B Jothi Lingam, 25, of Pallikaranai. All the accused were booked on charges of murder and Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. They were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.
Police said G Praveen alias Ashiq of Pallikaranai, a bike mechanic, was in a rela- tionship with D Sharmila, 20, a fourth year college student, at Jalladianpet since their school days. They got married last Oct against the wishes of Sharmila’s family. Sharmila’s family members were enraged as Praveen belonged to a different caste than theirs.
Around 9pm on Saturday, Praveen had gone to a shop in Pallikaranai to buy dinner for his family when he got a call from one of his friends, Sriram, who later turned out to be an accused in the murder case. “Sriram called Praveen to a place where Sharmila’s brother and his gang lay in wait,” said a police officer. “They hacked him to death.” The officer said the victim suffered several cuts on his body.
‘My family couldn’t digest the fact that my husband was from another caste’
Passersby rushed Praveen to Chromepet Government Hospital where he was declared dead. Police sent the body for postmortem and handed it over to his family.
Investigations revealed that apart from the caste hatred, there was also a revenge angle to the crime.
In 2022, Praveen was one of the accused in the murder of a ganja peddler called Shyam Bright at Sithalapakkam. Shyam’s friends, who were waiting to exact revenge, joined hands with the woman’s brother, D Dinesh, to murder Praveen, police said.
Sharmila, who was shattered seeing her husband’s body, blamed her brother for her husband’s killing “My family couldn’t digest the fact that my husband was from a different caste,” she said. “When we were having a self-respect marriage, my brother barged into the registrar’s office and threatened to kill us,” she had.
Praveen’s uncle Kaviarasu recollected how Sharmila’s family had once come home soon after the marriage and threatened the couple. “Last week, Sharmila’s father and brother went to her college while Praveen went to drop her and created a ruckus,” he said.
The Pallikaranai police arrested Dinesh, 23, of Jalladianpet, N Sriram, 18, S Vishnu Raj, 25, of Chitlapakkam, R Stephen Kumar, 24, of Sithalapakkam, and B Jothi Lingam, 25, of Pallikaranai. All the accused were booked on charges of murder and Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. They were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.