A lower court in Kerala’s Palakkad district on Monday, October 28 awarded life imprisonment to two convicts accused of murdering  a 27-year-old man, who had married a woman from a dominant caste in 2020. 

Aneesh, who belongs to the Kollan community which comes under Other Backward Classes (OBC) in Kerala, was stabbed and killed allegedly by his wife Haritha’s father Prabhu Kumar and uncle Suresh Kumar–belonging to a dominant caste (Pillai). 

The court, on October 25, had convicted the two accused and fined Rs 50,000 each–which would be given to Haritha. Judge R Vinayaka Rao, in his verdict, said that Prabhu Kumar and Suresh Kumar were guilty of murder and destroying evidence. 

In December, 2020, Prabhu and Suresh attacked 27-year-old Aneesh with a rod and knife leaving him with multiple wounds. Aneesh bled to death on the way to the hospital, three months after his wedding to Haritha. TNM had reported that the couple had been threatened multiple times by Haritha’s family who claimed their ‘honour’ had been lost due to Aneesh’s caste and class (he had worked as a painter).

According to reports, Aneesh’s parents said the convicts should have been awarded a minimum of double life imprisonment. Haritha said she was worried for her life and that the convicts should spend the rest of their lives in jail.