The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court refused to grant bail to Alagar, accused of killing his daughter and son-in-law in Thoothukudi district in 2019 in a case of honour killing. The couple belonged to different groups of the Scheduled Caste.
Dismissing the bail petition, Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan observed that it was a case of honour killing. The petitioner, with an intention to kill both his daughter and son-in-law, attacked them with a billhook in the wee hours when they were asleep. They succumbed to the injuries.
The case of the prosecution was that Alagar’s daughter A. Petchiammal fell in love with T. Solairaja and they got married in April last year against the wish of the woman’s family. Irked by this, Alagar killed the couple, it was submitted.
After their marriage, Solairaja and Petchiammal, both salt pan workers, moved to a small single-room house in Thanthai Periyar Nagar near Kulathur in Thoothukudi district. The man’s mother was staying in a relative’s house situated close by.
At the time of her death, Petchiammal was two months’ pregnant. Solairaja’s mother found the couple in a pool of blood with multiple cut injuries the following morning. Hearing the screams of the woman, the neighbours alerted the police.
