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(Trigger warning: Mentions of casteist violence. Reader discretion is advised)
"They brutally murdered my husband. Why? Because he belonged to a lower caste, and they didn't accept our marriage. Who are they to decide who I can marry and who I can't?" asked an inconsolable D Sharmila, aged 21.
Three days ago, on 24 February, Sharmila's husband G Praveen, a 22-year-old Dalit man, was allegedly hacked to death by a five-member gang, including Sharmila's brother, near a bar in Tamil Nadu capital Chennai's Pallikaranai locality, in a suspected case of caste killing.
On 25 February, the Chennai Police arrested five persons – Sharmila's elder brother Dinesh (23), Sriram (18), Stefen Kumar (24), Jothi Linga (25), and Vishnu Raj (25) – in connection with the incident.
While Praveen belonged to the Adi Dravidar community, which comes under the Scheduled Caste (SC) category, Sharmila belonged to the Yadhava caste, which comes under Other Backward Class (OBC).
A resident of Chennai's Jalladianpet locality, Sharmila is the youngest of three siblings; she has two older brothers, including Dinesh, one of the accused in the case.
Meanwhile, Praveen, a class 10 dropout, was the youngest son of Gopi, a car mechanic in Pallikaranai, and Chitra, a homemaker.
In a telephonic conversation with The Quint on 26 February, Sharmila said that she and Praveen had been in a relationship for the last seven years, since their school days.
On 19 October 2023, the duo registered their marriage despite opposition from Sharmila's family, and the latter moved into Praveen's home.
After their wedding, Sharmila's parents allegedly threatened the couple and filed a police complaint against Praveen, she claimed.
Sharmila told The Quint that in October 2023, her parents had filed a case against Praveen, alleging that he abducted her. When the couple had gone to the police station to clarify she had consented to the marriage, her brother Dinesh threatened to kill them.
Speaking to The Quint, Chitra, Praveen's mother, alleged that Dinesh threatened to "ruin" the entire family. "He told us that he will make our life hell..." she said.
A senior police official, on the condition of anonymity, told The Quint that the incident took place at around 9 pm on Saturday, 24 February, when Praveen had stepped out to buy dinner for his family.
Sharmila said that she found out about the incident after one of Praveen's friends "came home crying."
"I didn't understand what was happening, so I tried calling Praveen but I was not able to reach him. Then a police officer came home and took all of my details and asked me to come to the station. That's when I found out that he was murdered," she said.
According to the police, Dinesh had allegedly got in touch with Sriram on wanting to "hurt Praveen." However, caste hatred was not the only reason for the crime, officials said.
"It looks like Dinesh got in touch with Sriram to execute the murder. Sriram and four others wanted revenge for the previous murder, so they ganged up with Dinesh. However, in his latest statement, Dinesh claimed that he only wanted to hurt Praveen and not kill him. But he could be saying it to hide his crime. More will be clear post investigation," police officials said.
At this juncture, it is unclear how the four other accused were linked to the ganja peddler. The police said they are investigating the same.
The Quint had reached out to Sharmila over the revenge angle after speaking with the Chennai Police. The article will be updated when she responds.
The accused were booked under Sections 302 (Murder) and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 3(2)(V) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act). They were produced in court on Monday, 27 February, and were remanded to judicial custody.
Chitra told The Quint that with Praveen's death, the "life of the entire family has been shattered."
"I gave birth to a beautiful son. But when his body returned, his face was disfigured. They slit my son so badly. I couldn't bear to see his face," she said.
Meanwhile, all Sharmila wants is justice for the murder of her husband.
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