People watched in shock and fear as the men attacked the couple.
Highlights
- Dalit student hacked to death, his wife injured in an on-camera attack
- Girl's family was angry she, an upper caste Thevar, married a Dalit boy
- Girl's father surrenders in court, cops looking for uncle, 3 attackers
A young engineering student was hacked to death and his wife left critically injured on a busy road in Tamil Nadu's Tirupur on Sunday, in a chilling attack that has been captured on camera.
The woman's father has surrendered in court, say the police. He has denied any role in the attack and claims he turned himself in because the police were looking for him.
23-year-old V Sankar, a Dalit, and 19-year-old Kausalya, who is from the politically powerful Thevar caste, married just eight months ago after meeting in college. On Sunday, they were on a shopping trip for their college annual day when they were attacked.
In CCTV visuals, they are seen walking and chatting when three men on a bike stop behind them and suddenly attack Sankar with sickles and sharp weapons.
When Sankar stops moving, his wife is repeatedly attacked until she collapses. Others on the road are seen either rooted to the spot or backing away in fear.
The attackers escape on their bike, apparently unconcerned about being identified or caught.
Kausalya suffered severe head injuries. The police are also looking for her uncle.
Sankar was a third year engineering student. The police said Kausalya's family was angry with the marriage. "She is an upper caste Thevar and he was a Dalit," police officer N Manjunatha was quoted as telling reporters.
Thevars are a dominant community in Tamil Nadu and are known to be a strong support base for the ruling AIADMK.
Sankar's father Velu Samy said, "We thought her parents would accept them but it has ended in this bloody tragedy. We have lost him".
His brother Vignesh added: "Campus interviews were supposed to take place soon after and he would've gotten a job."
This is the third incident of this kind in Tamil Nadu in the last five years.
In July 2013, a Dalit man who had married an upper caste woman was found dead on a railway track in Dharmapuri district. Last year, another young man who was found talking to an upper caste woman was abducted and later found dead in Namakkal district.