Tirunelveli, India, July 30: Police in Tamil Nadu have detained a sub-inspector couple for questioning after their son was arrested for allegedly murdering a Scheduled Caste man in what the victim’s family is calling an “honour killing” over an inter-caste relationship.
C. Kavin Selvaganesh, 27, an IT professional from Arumugamangalam in Thoothukudi district, was hacked to death in broad daylight on Sunday (July 27) in KTC Nagar, Tirunelveli. Police said the accused, Surjith, 23, lured Kavin to a meeting under the guise of holding conciliatory talks, before attacking him with a machete.
Kavin, who worked for a Chennai-based IT company, was reportedly in a long-term relationship with Surjith’s elder sister, a Siddha medical practitioner from a Most Backward Caste (MBC) community. Police sources said Kavin had gone to the clinic where she worked to seek treatment for his grandfather when Surjith intercepted him.
“After riding some distance on a motorbike, Surjith suddenly attacked Kavin. The victim attempted to flee, but Surjith chased him down and killed him,” a police official said. Bystanders alerted the authorities, and Surjith was taken into custody at the scene.
In his initial statement, Surjith told police that Kavin had been “harassing” his sister and that she did not reciprocate his feelings. “Since he continued to trouble my innocent sister despite warnings, I murdered him,” police quoted him as saying.
However, the victim’s family rejected this claim, asserting that the couple had been in a relationship since their school days. They accused the woman’s parents — Sub-Inspectors Saravanakumar and Krishnaveni — of orchestrating the killing because of caste prejudice.
“If the relationship was truly one-sided, they could have filed a complaint. Instead, they facilitated this murder,” a family member told reporters outside Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital, where Kavin’s post-mortem was conducted. The family has refused to accept his body, demanding justice.
Surjith has been remanded to judicial custody until August 14. His parents have been named as accused numbers two and three in the First Information Report (FIR) and are currently being questioned.
Tirunelveli City Commissioner of Police Santosh Hadimani said further investigation is underway. “At this stage, we only have the accused’s version. The inquiry will determine the full facts,” he told reporters. The incident has drawn criticism from Dalit rights activists and raised fresh concerns over caste-based violence and honour killings in the region.
