In a case that resembles an honour killing, a couple were murdered by an armed gang in the wee hours of Thursday, as they were sleeping in front of their house near Kulathur in the district.
The police have picked up the girl’s father in connection with the double murder, as he was against the marriage. T. Solairaja, 24, a saltpan worker from Thanthai Periyar Nagar, was in love with his co-worker A. Petchiammal alias Jothi, 21, police sources said.
As they belonged to different groups of Scheduled Caste, the girl’s parents opposed the affair. Despite stiff resistance, Solairaja married Jothi in April at a temple, reportedly with his family’s support. After marriage, the couple started their life in a small house with a single room at Thanthai Periyar Nagar. Solairaj’s mother was staying at a relative’s house.
Ambushed while asleep
On Wednesday, a power cut made the couple sleep at the small courtyard in front of their house. As there was no wall around the house, an armed gang entered the courtyard, and hacked Solairaja and Jothi to death. When the girl tried to protect herself, her left wrist was chopped off.
When Solairaja’s mother came to the house in the morning, she saw her son and daughter-in-law, who was carrying a 60-day-old foetus, lying in a pool of blood with multiple cut injuries on their necks and faces. Hearing her scream, the neighbours came out to see the couple murdered.
Superintendent of Police Arun Balagopalan visited the spot and sent the bodies to the Thoothukudi Government Medical College Hospital for post-mortem.
Police suspect that Jothi’s family, who vehemently opposed her marriage with Solairaja, might have orchestrated the double murder.
Demanding the suspects’ arrest, relatives of Solairaja, cadre of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and members of the Untouchability Eradication Front staged a dharna in front of the mortuary of the Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital and moved away only after the police assured them of the early arrest of the murderers. The police intensified vehicle checks across the district following the double murder.
A police team picked up Jothi’s father Azhagar at Naalaattinpudhur near Kovilpatti. He was handed over to the Kulathur police.
Earlier complaint
Fearing attack, Solairaja and Jothi were living in Kovilpatti for a while immediately after their the marriage.
When the couple sensed suspicious movement around their house, they had submitted a petition to the then Superintendent of Police Murali Rambha, who forwarded it to the Kulathur police.
After Jothi’s family members assured the Kulathur police that they would not interfere in the couple’s life, Solairaja and Jothi had come came to Thanthai Periyar Nagar, where they have been murdered.
