A fact-finding report on the alleged caste killing of Keerthi, a 20-year-old woman from Kolar district of Karnataka, has stated that she was killed by her parents because she was in a relationship with a man from a lowered caste. The report said that Gangadhara, the man she was in a relationship with, died by suicide after Keerthi was found dead at her residence on June 27, 2023. The police officer investigating the case, PJ Madhukar, was suspended from service on Sunday, July 16 over negligence. Activists in Kolar had alleged that the police refused to accept complaints from Gangadhara’s family over the role of Keerthi’s parents in the two deaths.
Keerthi is from the Golla caste group, which falls under Other Backward Classes (OBC), while Gangadhara is from the Scheduled Caste (SC) Madiga community. In Bodagurki, the village where Keerthi and Gangadhara resided, the fact finding team found that there are deep-rooted caste-based disparities and almost no inter-mingling between different caste groups. The team found only two previous inter-caste marriages in the village, one from 15 years ago and another from last year. “In both instances, the couples had to leave the village and settle in the city and have not been able to return to the village, not even to meet their parents or family members or take part in any family function or festival,” the fact finding report read.
The report compiled by the team stated that Keerthi’s family found out about her relationship with Gangadhara three days before she was killed. “Her parents were vehemently opposed to this, and they tried to convince Keerthi against pursuing the affair. They stopped her from attending college and confiscated her phone. They got some of their relatives and elders from their caste to come to their house and convince Keerthi against her decision. They also tried to get her to agree to a marriage with the son of a distant relative, but Keerthi flatly refused,” the report read.
It also stated that Keerthi visited Gangadhara’s house on June 23 and her mother Vasanthamma publicly used casteist abuses and slurs to refer to Gangadhara and his family, saying, “These people are from low caste. Why would you want to get married to people who beg for a living?” Keerthi was also physically assaulted by her mother, according to family sources.
The report said that though the parents initially Keerthi’s death was a suicide, they had strangulated her with an aluminium wire. It added that Keerthi’s father Krishnamurthy also reportedly confessed to killing her. It also said that the First Information Report (FIR) in the case has only charged the father so far, even though family sources say the mother is complicit in Keerthi’s murder.
The report said the sub-inspector at the Kamasamudram police station refused to accept the complaint submitted by Gangadhara’s family accusing Keerthi’s family of making casteist slurs and issuing death threats. An FIR was belatedly filed after protests were held outside the police station by the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (DSS). Gangadhara’s family also said that Keerthi’s forced confinement by her family was brought to the notice of a beat policeman, but he didn’t intervene in the matter proactively.
PJ Madhukar, the police inspector of Kamasamudram station, was suspended for not following procedures and not informing senior officials about the incident. He was also criticised for touching Keerthi’s body before the forensic examination, which was particularly concerning because there were conflicting claims about the manner of her death.
The fact-finding team consisted of Dinesh Kumar S, a student activist in Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), Sivamanithan S, an advocate from Bengaluru, and Dr Siddharth Joshi, an independent researcher.