In a suspected case of honour killing, a youth who was in love with an intermediate caste girl was murdered here on Wednesday allegedly by her family.
Sources said J. Hariharan, 24, of Therku Theru, ran a barbershop. He had been in love with a college student of Kamaraj Nagar for about two years. Even after she stopped talking to him after being pulled up by her parents, he pursued her.
To warn him off, the girl’s father S. Velan and his relatives summoned Hariharan and his father Jayaraman to a place near a temple. Velan’s relatives allegedly attacked Hariharan. One of them attacked him with a knife, injuring him on the ribs and the spinal cord. He was rushed to the Government Medical College Hospital, where he died.
The police made inquiries and seized the knife. Velan, his relatives S. Sankar, P. Karthikeyan and S. Muthu and G. Vellaisamy were arrested.
In the meantime, a group ransacked Velan’s scrap iron shop on Therku Theru and set fire to a few items. The relatives of the youth staged a protest in front of the Government Medical College Hospital on Thursday, demanding the arrest of Velan and others, and refused to accept the body. They relented after the police promised them that the other accused would be arrested soon. The last rites were performed at Palammalpuram amid police protection.
The police also arrested Velan and S. Muthu, another paternal uncle of the girl, on Thursday. They were remanded in judicial custody for 15 days.
