Survivor of Udumalpet honour killing urges State to get appeal pending before SC listed for hearing early

Pointing out that the appeal preferred in the Supreme Court against the Madras High Court judgment in the Udumalpet honour killing case was pending for nearly three years, activist Kausalya has urged the Tamil Nadu government to take efforts to ensure the appeal was listed for further hearing early.

Pointing out that the appeal preferred in the Supreme Court against the Madras High Court judgment in the Udumalpet honour killing case was pending for nearly three years, activist Kausalya has urged the Tamil Nadu government to take efforts to ensure the appeal was listed for further hearing early.

Addressing a press conference organised by Evidence, an NGO fighting for the cause of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, in Madurai on Wednesday, Ms. Kausalya said that Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, when he was in the opposition in 2020, offered support to her. She urged the State government to take necessary steps in this regard.

In 2016, V. Shankar, a Scheduled Caste youth, and Kausalya, a Caste Hindu, were attacked by a gang with lethal weapons in Udumalpet in Tiruppur district after they got married against the wishes of Kausalya’s family. While Shankar died on the spot, Kausalya sustained serious injuries in the attack.

In 2017, the Principal District and Sessions Court in Tiruppur awarded death sentences to six persons, including B. Chinnasamy, father of Kausalya, and different jail terms to the other accused. In 2020, the Madras High Court acquitted the prime accused, Chinnasamy, and commuted the death sentences of five others to life sentences.

The Tamil Nadu government preferred an appeal in the Supreme Court against the judgment the same year. Ms. Kausalya said that the Supreme Court had admitted the criminal appeal in 2020 and the appeal was still pending at the same stage and not even taken up for further hearing.

Mr. Kathir, executive director of Evidence, urged the State government to give more attention to the case. The State was not taking efforts to get the matter listed for further hearing, he said. He wondered if this was due to vote bank politics. The urgency shown in other matters was not being shown in this case, he said.

Answering a query on the need for a law against honour killings, he said that in Tamil Nadu honour killings were on the rise and despite several drafts being prepared in this regard, unfortunately no law has been enacted so far. He pointed out that the district level special cells to protect inter caste couples were not even functioning.