The unkindest cut of all

A young nurse, who married the man of her choice, was hacked to death along with her husband, on a road by her own brother because she ignored his insistence on deciding her groom. While questions have been raised about whether it was a caste killing in the true sense of the term, as the assault here was unusually from a member of a caste considered lower in the hierarchy, it is clear that the chauvinism exhibited in this case is as perverse and destructive as a caste killing itself

The recent chilling murder in broad daylight of an intercaste couple — S. Saranya, 27, belonging to the Scheduled Caste and V. Mohan, 31, a Senguntha Mudaliar (a backward class) — at Thulukkaveli in Cholapuram near Kumbakonam shook Tamil Nadu. It also raised complicated questions about murders of inter-caste couples and could have political ramifications for Dalit movements fighting against caste killings in a State that has seen several high-profile cases of killing of inter-caste couples over many decades.

On June 13, the newly wed Saranya and Mohan, who hailed from Ponnur village in Tiruvannamalai district, were convinced by her eldest brother Sakthivel, 32, to visit her parents’ house at Cholapuram and reclaim the gold mortgaged in her name from the bank. Saranya’s parents were for the first time meeting Mohan, who she had married a few days ago, without the knowledge of her family.

Saranya, who had completed her diploma in nursing and was working as a nurse in Chennai, had met Mohan at Kilpauk Medical College while the two of them were looking after their mothers undergoing treatment.

On June 13, Saranya could not have sensed what was about to unfold since neither her parents nor her other brothers (Sathish, 28, and Saravanan, 23,) had expressed any anger or threatened the couple over their decision to get married. On Monday, the couple reached her parents’ house in the morning.

Sakthivel and his wife had bought fish and urged his mother to cook it so the newly-wed could be served in the afternoon. Sakthivel’s wife who was also in the house had reportedly expressed her apprehension that her husband was drunk and some untoward incident might happen.

One of the brothers, both of whom are working for a packaging unit in Tiruppur, had reportedly told his wife to ensure that the couple leave their home quickly on Monday. Their fears stemmed from the fact that Sakthivel wanted Saranya to marry Ranjith, his wife’s brother.

Reportedly, Saranya, too, was open to the suggestion until she began realising Ranjith was wayward. She had apparently decided against marrying him after she met Mohan.