Tamil Nadu Man, 24, Hacked To Death By Father-In-Law 3 Months After Wedding

A 24-year-old man was hacked to death, allegedly by his father-in-law, in Tamil Nadu's Dindigul district, just three months after his wedding. As per the police, it was an inter-caste marriage.

The victim, Ramachandran (24), a milk vendor from Ramanayakkanpatti near Viralipatti, had fallen in love with Aarthi (21), a BCom second-year student from Ganapathipatti near Batlagundu, after connecting with her on Instagram. Despite opposition from her family, the two got married three months ago.

On Sunday evening, while Ramachandran was riding his two-wheeler to Kuzhipatti, he was allegedly intercepted near the Koottathu Ayyampalayam bridge by his father-in-law, Chandran (49). Police said a heated argument broke out between them, during which Chandran allegedly pulled out a sickle and repeatedly attacked Ramachandran on his head, hands, and legs.

Visuals from the spot showed the young man lying in a pool of blood. He died on the spot.

Police from Nilakottai rushed to the scene, recovered the body and sent it to the Nilakottai Government Hospital for post-mortem. A murder case has been registered, and police teams are searching for Chandran, who is on the run.

While the couple belonged to different non-Dalit communities, the police have ruled out dishonour killing. A senior officer told NDTV, "It does not appear to be a case of dishonour killing as of now. Neither of them is from a Scheduled Caste. We are investigating the motive."

This murder comes amid criticism by the opposition that crime is on the rise and that the law and order situation has deteriorated in Tamil Nadu. The ruling DMK, however, denied the allegations, insisting that many of these crimes stem from personal enmity and that the government has ensured stringent action and speedy trials in all such cases.