Shankar, 22, was hacked to death in Tamil
Nadu by a gang of men including his wife’s father, because they did not approve
of him marrying above his caste
By Sandhya
Ravishankar
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Dalit
Shankar and his Thevar wife Kausalya at the time of their marriage.
Photograph:
Handout
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Six men have been sentenced to death in India
for the “honour” killing of a Dalit man who had married a woman from a higher
caste.
Among those sentenced was the woman’s father.
A seventh man was sentenced to life in prison and another man was given five
years at the hearing in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday. The convictions were the
toughest recorded for such a killing in the state.
Shankar, 22, was hacked to death by a gang on
bikes in March 2016, eight months after he married Kausalya, 21, a member of
the Thevar caste, a dominant one in Tamil Nadu.
Kausalya sustained head injuries but survived
the attack as she managed to shelter under a parked car.
Eleven people were charged over the attack,
which was captured on a CCTV camera mounted in a nearby shop, including
Kausalya’s father Chinnasamy, her mother Annalakshmi, her uncle Pandidurai and
a 16-year-old relative.
The couple, both students at an engineering
college near Pollachi, and both in their 20s, married in July 2015, against the
wishes of Kausalya’s parents. After the wedding they went straight to a police
station and lodged a complaint that they feared for their lives.
“It is satisfying that the trial concluded
speedily,” said V Suresh, national general secretary of the People’s Union for
Civil Liberties, India’s largest civil and human rights body.
“The clear finding given that it was an
‘honour’ killing, meant to avenge a sense of insult caused by a Dalit for
daring to marry an ‘upper caste’ girl, will act as a deterrent for future
misadventure on the part of caste supremacists.”
He added that the sheer brutality of the
case, which made headlines around the world, meant that death sentences were
inevitable.
He said there was concern over an increase in
incidents of hate crime and “honour” killing, “which are reflective of current
societal standards of caste discrimination and animosity, the failure of the
state to bring about a change in mindset amongst all sections of the people to
accept egalitarian values, principles of equity and to work towards a casteless
society”.
While rare for a daughter to testify against
her parents, Kausalya was the key witness in the trial.
Kausalya’s mother, uncle Pandidurai and the
young relative were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
Following the verdict, Kausalya said she
would appeal against the acquittal of her relatives, adding: “I will also
continue my fight for a separate law to deal with cases of ‘honour’ killing.
Only then will my Shankar get justice.”
“It is a satisfactory verdict,” said P
Wilson, a senior lawyer and former additional solicitor general of India.
“Under the guise of ‘honour’ killing, caste is promoted and perpetrated.
Intercaste marriages are on the rise now and the police have been directed by
the then chief justice of the Madras high court Sanjay Kishan Kaul in 2016 to
form special units in all districts headed by the superintendent of police to
take up cases of ‘honour’ killing on priority.
“The court had also issued directions to the
government of India to bring in laws to curb ‘honour’ killings. It is a welcome
judgment. When the law permits two adults to marry, and they do marry, then why
should the parents or anyone come into the picture and resort to violence and
murder?”
Up to 6% of attacks on Dalits in India take place
in Tamil Nadu state, according to figures released by the National Crime
Records Bureau. In 2016, 1,291 such cases were reported in the state.
According to Indian law, the Madras high
court has to ratify the death sentence, following which appeals are available
to the convicts.
