In Tamil Nadu Man's Public Killing On Camera, Father-In-Law Gets Death

Chennai: Six people have been given death penalty for the daylight murder of V Sankar -- the 23-year-old Dalit engineering student who married an upper caste woman -- which took place in March last year. Sankar was hacked to death at a market in Tamil Nadu's Tirupur. His wife, 19-year-old Kausalya, who was accompanying him, was also attacked by the bike-borne men, who had been hired by her parents. The gruesome murder, captured on local CCTV cameras, had shocked the nation.

Kausalya's father Chinnasamy and the five men who carried out the attack have been given death sentence. Two others have been convicted as well. Annalakshmi, Kousalya's mother, her uncle Pandithurai and a college student, Prasanna, have been acquitted for want of evidence. Kausalya has welcomed the death sentence and said she could appeal against the acquittals.

The family, which belongs to the politically powerful Thevar caste, was allegedly unhappy with their marriage.

Sankar, a third year student of engineering, and Kausalya had been married for around eight months when the attack took place.

In the CCTV footage obtained from the market, they are seen walking and chatting when three men on a bike stop behind them and suddenly attack Sankar with sharp weapons. When the man stopped moving, they turn on his wife and slash at her till she collapses. The attackers then go away, apparently without any worry about being recognized.

Sankar had died in the hospital from excessive bleeding. Kausalya took a long time to recover. She now lives with Sankar's family, who are farmers.

It was the third such incident in Tamil Nadu in five years.