Udumalpet: In yet another arrest in the honour killing case that rocked Udumalpet and Tamil Nadu recently, Pandithurai, uncle of Kousalya, wife of the slain Dalit victim Shankar, was arrested by a special police team near Dindigul on Tuesday, sources said on Wednesday.
Based on a tip off from Chinnasamy father of Kousalya, the special team camping at Didigul was alerted, leading to the arrest of Pandithurai on the outskirts of Dindigul. This accused, brother of Kousalya’s mother Annalakshmi, who was absconding, is alleged to have taken part in planning the murder of Shankar recently.
A police officer said Pandithurai had expressed his willingness for the honor killing, and the prosecution will push for punishment to him for abetment of the horrific crime under IPC sections 109 and 120. Pandithurai is believed to have told the police that Kousalya was a pampered girl child in the family and provided with whatever she liked.
The girl’s mother in particular was angry over her daughter being ‘dishonest’ to her on this issue, besides community prestige cropping up- in an upper caste Thevar girl marrying a Dalit-, her uncle is believed to have confided.
Police said that by interrogating Pandithurai, they will be able to get information about Annalakshmi’s place of stay soon and a special team will also arrest the girl’s mother. “We believe she is close to Theni. We don’t know whether the informer Dhanraj is along with Annalakshmi or she is hiding somewhere alone,” said the official.
While most of those involved in the case belong to the closely-knit Thevar community, Police feel “they are supporting one another”. Special teams have camped in Dindigul, Palani, Theni, Madurai, Oddanchatram, in a bid to crack the case quickly.
