A 27-year-old Dalit software engineer was brutally hacked to death in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district, allegedly over an inter-caste relationship, police said on Monday. The victim, Kavin Selva Ganesh, who was employed at a software firm in Chennai, belonged to the Devendra Kula Vellalar community, a Scheduled Caste group, according top PTI.
The suspect, S Surjith, the brother of the woman Ganesh was reportedly in a relationship with, has been arrested and booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Shockingly, police confirmed that both of Surjith’s parents are serving as sub-inspectors, and a case has been registered against them as well.
The incident occurred on Sunday evening, when Ganesh had gone to a Siddha clinic in Tirunelveli town to meet S Subhashini, a practitioner at the facility and his former schoolmate, reportedly to seek treatment for his ailing grandfather. An argument allegedly broke out between Ganesh and Surjith outside the clinic.
Police say Surjith, enraged over the inter-caste relationship, attacked Ganesh with a sickle. His body was later discovered around 200 metres from the clinic. A post-mortem was conducted at the Tirunelveli Government Hospital.
Subhashini’s family belongs to the Maravar community, a dominant caste group in southern Tamil Nadu. According to police, her family had long opposed her relationship with Ganesh due to caste differences.