The Erode police on Thursday, March 7, 2024, arrested a couple, who had opposed the inter-caste marriage of their daughter with an Adi Dravidar young man, on charges of attempting to kill their son-in-law, in Bhavanisagar by ramming his bike with a van. While the young man managed to escape, his 16-year-old sister was killed in the incident that took place on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.
Police said J. Subash of Guruvayurappan Nagar in Bhavanisagar, who owns and operates a private ambulance, married C. Manju of the Kongu Vellalar Gounder community on October 8, 2023. Their love marriage was opposed by Manju’s parents, Chandran and Chitra.
On Wednesday, Subash was on his way on a two-wheeler to drop his sister Harini, a Class 10 student, at a private school in the area. At 9 a.m. while they were nearing Nesavalar Colony on the Sathyamangalam – Mettupalayam Road, a pickup van rammed their two-wheeler from behind and both were thrown off the vehicle in the impact. Subash suffered injuries and was admitted to a hospital in Sathyamangalam. Harini sustained head injuries and was admitted to a private hospital in Coimbatore. She succumbed to her injuries in the afternoon.
Preliminary inquiries by Sathyamangalam Deputy Superintendent of Police M.S. Saravanan revealed that the accused couple had threatened Subash many times. The couple had been following Subash for the past one week and were planning to kill him. Chandran was at the wheel of the van, while his wife accompanied him in the vehicle. They rammed the two-wheeler with their van and fled the spot, police said.
On Thursday, special teams picked up the couple and took them to an undisclosed location for inquiry. The Bhavanisagar police registered a case under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous means) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and under provisions of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. An investigation is under way.
Superintendent of Police G. Jawahar told The Hindu that the couple was picked up from their hideout and inquiry was in progress. “This was an attempt of ‘honour killing’ (murder due to caste) of their son-in-law,” he said.
Meanwhile, unidentified persons damaged two two-wheelers and a car at the couple’s house in Sathyamangalam on Wednesday night and set it on fire. As the situation turned tense, police personnel were posted at the house and at the residence of Subash. A case was registered by Sathyamangalam police against miscreants for vandalising the vehicles.
Meanwhile, a post-mortem was conducted on the girl’s body in Coimbatore and it was taken shifted to her native village and buried amidst tight security. Police sources said the couple would be produced in the court on Friday.
