Dalit murder in Tamil Nadu: Five arrested, mother-in-law absconding

Kausalya’s father, Chinnaswamy, had surrendered on Monday and claimed responsibility for the murder. The police said her mother, Annalakshmi, and maternal uncle Pandi Durai are absconding. An officer claimed the police have learnt that they had a direct role in the murder.

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The five suspected arrested in the early hours of Tuesday — all daily wage labourers — have been identified as Selvakumar (26), Madhan (25), Manikandan (25), Jagadish (31), and Manikandan (29). The police said the first four had a direct role in the conspiracy and murder, while Manikandan was arrested for helping and harbouring the accused.

Kausalya and Sankar got married eight months ago.

Kausalya and Shankar, who were in the same engineering college, married in July last year, and were reportedly under constant threat from Kausalya’s parents ever since. “The police once had to intervene to rescue Kausalya when her parents tried to kidnap her,” the officer said.