TN police begin probe into murder of youth who 'married' a woman belonging to another caste

TRICHY: Police have launched a hunt for a four-member gang that murdered a 28-year-old dalit youth, Suresh Arockiasamy, at Aathur Pirivu in Karur district of Tamil Nadu on Saturday night.
Suresh was consuming liquor at a TASMAC outlet when the gang members, who came on two two-wheelers, attacked him with a sickle. The gang members escaped from the spot after killing him.
Later, one of the gang members, identified himself as Sivanesan, telephoned police claiming that he and his friends killed Suresh as the latter had brought disrepute to his family by marrying his (Sivanesan’s) sister, Gajapriya, 26, who belongs to a non-dalit community.
Suresh married Gajapriya in December last year. However, she left him after living with him for two weeks and went back to her parents. Ever since she left him, Suresh had been trying to bring her back to him.
He had filed a habeas corpus petition in the Madurai bench of the Madras high court claiming that his wife had been kidnapped by her family members. However, he could not furnish any documents to prove that she was his wife.
Karur superintendent of police Vandita Pandey said the woman agreed to go with her parents when she was produced in the high court in December last.
Asked whether Suresh had married the woman or whether they had been living together, the SP said details would be known only after questioning Gajapriya who is in Bengaluru with her parents.
The Karur town police have registered a case against Sivanesan and three others under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.