Chennai: A day after a newly-wed couple in Thoothukudi was hacked to death by a gang of five members, the father of the woman was arrested after allegedly confessing to the crime during police interrogation, said sources. The woman was two-month pregnant when she was killed.
Azhagar was remanded to judicial custody after an FIR was registered against him and he was booked under Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code following allegations from the boy’s family.
T Solairaj, 23, and A Jothi, 20, fell in love while working at a saltpan in the district five years ago. Since Jothi’s parents were against the marriage as they belonged to different sub-castes of the Scheduled Castes, the couple eloped and got married three months ago.
With Solairaj’s family living in a single-room house, his mother and sister would usually go to a relative’s house nearby after he got married.
Early on Wednesday, a group of five men hacked the couple to death while they were sleeping in the front yard during a power outage.
The incident came to light when Solairaj’s mother and sister returned home at 6 am, with their screams alerting the neighbours.
The police officials reached the spot and the two bodies were sent to the government hospital for post-mortems.
Accusing Jothi’s family of the crime, Solairaj’s relatives demanded stringent punishment for them.
“They got married just three months ago. How can the father murder his own daughter? She was carrying a foetus. Just because Solairaj and Jothi belonged to different sub-castes, they committed this horrific crime. Her father should be hanged to death,” said Jayaradha, Solairaj’s relative.
The family has demanded compensation from the state government.
(With inputs from Lalitha Gudiwada)
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