In a suspected case of ‘honour killing’, a 22-year-old girl was killed by her father near Areekode in the district on Thursday evening.
The deceased has been identified as Athira, native of Poovathingal near Pathanapuram in Areekode. The accused, Rajan, was taken into custody by police and the interrogation is on.
Marriage of the girl with a boy who is employed in Army was scheduled to be held on Friday at Saligramam Temple in Areekode town as simple ceremony.
According to police the girl was in love with the Koyilandi native, but the father was against the relationship. Later he was forced to change his decision and agreed to her marriage, due to pressure from his daughter.
On Thursday afternoon, the girl and her father quarrelled with each other over the wedding due to which she ran to a neighbouring house seeking shelter. Father went after her, dragged her from the house and stabbed her. Though the girl was taken to a private medical college in Mukkam, she was declared brought dead. According to Circle Inspector of Manjeri N B Shaiju, the accused, who is daily wage worker and driver by profession, was in inebriated condition while committing the crime. “Rajan had requested her daughter to step back from the relationship many times earlier. The preliminary investigation shows that the murder was not pre-planned”, he said.
According to local people, the relationship between girl and boy began when mother of boy underwent treatment at a hospital where the girl worked as Lab technician. The boy proposed to her first and they decided to marry, with the consent of family members who later decided to hold marriage as a simple function in the temple.Though the police is yet to confirm honour killing, the local residents say that Rajan, who belong to Ezhava community, strongly opposed the marriage, only because the boy belong to SC community.
Circle inspector has informed the inquest process would be completed on Friday.Earlier in a February, a man in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad shoved poison down his daughter's throat as he disapproved her relationship with a man from a different caste.
The same month, a photographer was stabbed to death in Delhi by the father and relatives of the girl he intended to marry. The girl's family were against the match as the 23-year-old victim, Ankit Saxena was from a different community.
