Caste-Based Violence: Madras HC Directs Police Protection For Wife To Hold Public Meeting On Her Husband Death Anniversary

The Madras High Court has recently ordered the Tamil Nadu police to allow S Kousalya to hold a public meeting in memory of her husband, Shankar, who was hacked to death in 2016 in a ‘honour killing’ case.

Justice G Chandrasekharan directed the Tiruppur district police to allow Kousalya to hold a meeting near a bus stop in Udumalpet on March 12, the death anniversary of her husband Shankar.

While the Tamil Nadu government had opposed to Kousalya’s petition on the grounds that such a gathering could cause law and order issues, the High Court dismissed the State’s concerns.

The Court stated that Kousalya, a victim of caste-based violence, chose to speak out against such violence and honour killing, especially since such incidents continue to occur throughout Tamil Nadu.

“Considered the rival submissions and perused the records. The offence of honour killing occurs every now and then. It is not as if no honour killing occurs in Tamil Nadu and that it is completely eradicated. It is undeniable that petitioner is a victim of honour killing, that her husband was murdered because he belongs to the Scheduled Caste and petitioner belongs to the Most Backward Caste. The purpose of establishing the Shankar Social Justice Trust and hosting the current meeting is to disseminate information against honour killing and to promote intercaste marriage. It is a laudable object, and we cannot prevent/forbid the Shankar Social Justice Trust meeting to be organized on March 12, 2023,” the High Court stated.

Kousalya, an Engineering student from the dominant Thevar community, married Shankar Velusamy, a Dalit student at the same college. She and Shankar were attacked on March 13, 2016, because of their inter-caste marriage. While Shankar died on the spot, Kowsalya sustained severe injuries.

CCTV footage of the gruesome incident, which later went viral, revealed a shocking case of honour killing, which was initiated by Kausalya’s family and carried out by hired killers.

Moreover, despite a landmark decision in 2017 that sentenced her father and five others to death, justice was denied to her when the Madras High Court overturned the Sessions Court verdict and acquitted her father and two others in 2020.

On the second death anniversary of Shankar, she established a Trust in his name to raise awareness about caste-based violence and to encourage inter-caste unions, as well as to educate inter-caste couples about their legal rights.