In Karnataka’s Vijayapura district a teenage boy and girl, belonging to different religious communities, were murdered allegedly by the girl’s family members on Wednesday (June 23).
The boy belonging to the Dalit community and said to be 19 years old was a resident of Saladahalli hamlet, while the girl aged 16-17 hailed from neighbouring Khanapur village.
The United Dalit Forum of Sindagi Taluk are calling it a case of “honour killing”.
The forum’s speaker, Nandakumar Bambekar, who is also the Karnataka Madiga Youth Brigade’s President, said that the murder of these two teenagers has sent shockwaves across Dalits living in Saladahalli village and alleged that the police was being manipulated by the girl’s father who has been named as the fifth accused in the FIR instead of being the prime accused.
According to the police, the girl, aged 16-17 years, belonged to the minority community, while the 19-year-old boy, who drove an auto rickshaw for a living, belonged to a Dalit family.
“Both families were equally opposed to their affair and both families had beaten up their wards too for this. On Monday these youngsters were out on their usual date in fields, where one of the girl’s family members came to know about it and in turn, he brought four other family members who came and caught these youngsters red-handed. Out of rage, the girl’s family tied both of them to a tree and started beating them up with sticks. Due to internal injuries, they succumbed on the spot,” the police was quoted saying in a media report.
Another report mentioned that the Muslim family killed the couple with sharp objects and stone. “I begged them to let the couple go, however, they kept on thrashing the couple,” said Mallavva to Asianet.
Police have now formed a team who are now tracking all male members of the girl’s family who are on the run and A case has been registered and the angle of “honour killing” is also being probed.
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