Verdict in Udumalpet Sankar case on December 12

In a case of honour killing, the 22-year-old Dalit youth was hacked to death by a gang in full public view on March 13, 2016, for marrying Kausalya, a caste Hindu. 

Sankar, a native of Kumaralingam near Udumalpet in Tirupur district, had fallen in love with Kausalya while studying engineering at a private college in Pollachi. Braving opposition and threats from parents and family members of the girl, they had entered into a wedlock. A three-member gang had come on a two wheeler and attacked Sankar near the Udumalpet bus terminus. He was hacked to death in full public view. 

Though a huge crowd had witnessed the shocking incident, they had remained mute spectators. According to the police, the public were helpless as the assailants wielded weapons. Sankar’s wife Kausalya also was not spared by the gang. She suffered head injuries in the attack and was hospitalised in Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH).

The entire incident was captured in a surveillance camera in the neighbourhood, which helped the police to nab the offenders. A depressed Kausalya dropped out of college and even attempted suicide at her slain husband’s house in Kumaralingam. Tirupur police arrested 11 persons, including the parents of the girl, and filed a 1,500 page charge sheet in court against them. The accused persons, lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison, were also detained under the Goondas Act. 

Hearing the case, the Tirupur Principal District Judge Alamelu Natarajan announced on Tuesday that the verdict will be pronounced on December 12.