The parents and two brothers of a young woman were arrested in Dindigul district in connection with the murder of her 21-year-old lover on Monday night.
The victim, Bharathiraja, who was hit with heavy stones, and the girl, Parameswari, 20, belonged to the same community, police said.
Parameswari, a resident of Moongilpatti Mullai Nagar, upon learning that her parents had planned to get her married to another youth, alerted Bharatiraja, hailing from Pudupatti near Natham.
On Monday night, Bharatiraja arrived near Parameswari’s house on a two-wheeler. Her family members objected to this and soon her brother Malaichami and others attacked him with stones, leaving him in an unconscious state with severe bleeding injuries.
On information, a 108 emergency ambulance service rushed him to the Government Hospital, but he was declared ‘brought dead’.
A police team, including Natham Deputy Superintendent of Police Sugumaran and Inspector Raja Murali, went to the spot and questioned the suspects.
The police said based on their “confession”, they arrested the girl’s parents Rasu, 63, and Alagunachi, 58, and brothers Malaichami, 22, and Balakumar, 28. The police registered cases and produced them before a Judicial Magistrate Court, which remanded them in judicial custody.
A senior police officer said, “We have registered a case of murder. The question of “honour killing” needs to be examined.”
Executive director of Madurai-based NGO Evidence A. Kathir felt that it was a clear case of ‘honour killing’. The heinous crime could not be described as “something which happened out of emotional outburst,” or that it was not a “planned” attack. The family members of the girl had committed the crime citing “status”, he claimed. Though the girl and the boy might be from the same caste, this incident was an “honour killing,” he charged.
