The case of an alleged honour killing, where a newly married man in Kerala’s Kollam district was abducted, tortured and killed, presumably by criminals sent by his wife’s relatives, has triggered widespread protest in the state.
The man, identified as Kevin P Joseph, was kidnapped from Mannanam and his body was recovered from a stream near Thenmala.
Kevin belonged to a family of converted Christians and his wife Neenu, a second year B.Com student, is from a family of inter-religious married couple; her father is Catholic and mother a Muslim.
Kevin and Neenu were in a relationship for over two years before they got hitched on May 24. Although Neenu’s family tried to take her away with the help of the police, she decided to stay with Kevin and later took a room at a women's hostel. Fearing attack from Neenu's relatives, Kevin had gone to a relative's place.
According to reports, Kevin was abducted from his relative's house in the early hours of Sunday. His body was recovered from a canal the next day.
“Kevin was staying at his cousin Anish’s house at Mannanam, near the city, while Neenu was in a hostel," Kevin's uncle, M Rajan, was quoted as saying by IE. "Early on Sunday, a gang attacked the house and kidnapped Kevin and Anish. The two were badly beaten up. The gang, which came in three vehicles, also vandalised the house. As soon as we came to know of the incident, we rushed to the local police station. Joseph (Kevin's father) spent the whole day there, from 9.30 am, pleading for help while the sub-inspector kept saying that he was busy with Chief Minister’s visit to inaugurate new facilities at the medical college. Around noon, Anish was dropped back home by the gang. They claimed Kevin had escaped from their custody. But early on Monday morning, we received information that Kevin’s body had been found in a canal near the Thenmala forest,” said Rajan.
To protest against the incident, the Bharatiya Janata Party has called a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Kottayam district.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK StalinGetty images
