Honour killing: Man found guilty of killing brother, his girlfriend in Coimbatore

COIMBATORE: A special court in Coimbatore on Thursday pronounced a man guilty of killing his 22-year-old brother and his 16-year-old girlfriend, in a case of honour killing in 2019.

Judge K Vivekananthan, of the special court for the trial of cases registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, declared the prime accused K Vinoth Kumar, a daily wager, guilty of double murder. Three co-conspirators, R Kanthavel (26), S Iyappan (36) and R Chinnaraj (40) were acquitted for lack of evidence.

The quantum of the sentence is likely to be pronounced on January 29.

According to the prosecution, Kumar conceived and executed the murder of his brother K Kanagaraj, 22, from a Most Backward Community and his girlfriend Varshini Priya, belonging to a scheduled caste, after they decided to get married.

Kumar was apprehensive he may not find a bride if his brother married from the SC community. Due to Kumar’s objection to their marriage, Kanagaraj and the girl moved into a rented house at Vellipalayam near Mettupalayam on June 22, 2019.

On June 25, Kumar hacked his younger brother to death and left the girl critically injured at their rented house; she died later at the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital. Kumar surrendered at the Mettupalayam police station.

The minor girl’s mother, a key witness to the double murder, said maximum punishment should be given to Kumar, as he killed her daughter in the name of caste.

Special public prosecutor Bhavani B Mohan said, “Only harsh punishments will get rid of such caste discriminations, else incidents of honour killings will recur,” he said.