The court gives life imprisonment to the woman’s father and uncle

A lower court in Kerala’s Palakkad district on Monday, October 28, handed down life sentences to two convicts accused of murdering a 27-year-old man, who had married a dominant caste woman in 2020.

Aneesh, who belongs to the Kollan community under Other Backward Classes (OBC) in Kerala, was allegedly stabbed and killed by his wife Haritha’s father Prabhu Kumar and uncle Suresh Kumar, who belongs to a dominant caste (Pillai ) belonged.

The court had convicted the two accused on October 25 and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each, which would be given to Haritha. Judge R. Vinayaka Rao, in his judgment, said Prabhu Kumar and Suresh Kumar were guilty of murder and destroying evidence.

In December 2020, Prabhu and Suresh attacked 27-year-old Aneesh with a rod and a knife, leaving him with multiple wounds. Aneesh bled to death on the way to the hospital, three months after his marriage to Haritha. TNM had reported that the couple had been threatened several times by Haritha’s family, who alleged that their ‘honor’ had been lost because of Aneesh’s caste and class (he had worked as a painter).

According to reports, Aneesh’s parents said that the convicts should have been given at least double life imprisonment. Haritha said she was worried about her life and that the convicts had to spend the rest of their lives in jail.