Caught in a maelstrom of emotions – her father and brother have been arrested for the murder of her Dalit partner, Kavin Selvaganesh – the young woman from a so-called upper caste community in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli appears on the edge of breaking down in video statements released Thursday.
In the first video she appeals for her parents to be left alone. “Nobody knows the truth of the relationship I had with Kavin… and nobody needs to comment on it or us. The truth is known only to Kavin and me. Our parents were not involved. Don’t punish them… leave them alone.”
On the verge of crying, she continues, “Everyone has rushed to tell me, to tell us, what they think and feel. But no one has asked about me or my feelings… except for one girl in the newspaper.”
The young woman then thanks her lone, faceless supporter.
In the second she explains that Kavin and she “loved each other, truly” but, like all couples, needed time to find their feet. She then recounts the tragic events leading up to Kavin’s murder.
NDTV cannot independently verify either video.
“On May 30 Surjith (her brother) and Kavin spoke to each other. At that time Surjith told my father (Saravanan, a police sub-inspector) about Kavin. My father then asked me if I was in love with him… I told him ‘no’. But I only said that because Kavin asked me for some time…” she said in the video.
“He asked me for six months to think about our relationship.”
“I don’t know what happened between them (Surjith and Kavin) over the next month, but Surjith later called Kavin and told him to come and ask (the father, Saravanan) for my hand in marriage.”
The young woman said she told Kavin to visit her family on July 28.
But a day earlier his grandfather had a head injury and was admitted to the alternative medicine centre where she worked. “… I had to admit him and then Kavin came inside (the patient’s room) and then left again. I was talking to his mother and uncle and, as they were leaving, we wondered where Kavin had gone. His mother called him (on his phone) but he didn’t pick up.”
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Kavin’s mother then told the young woman she was hungry. “I told her, ‘you go eat and I will tell Kavin to call you’… but then this (her partner’s death) happened.”
Visibly tired and distressed, the young woman concludes, “Don’t go around speaking about what you don’t know… my parents had nothing to do with this. Leave this alone. Leave it alone.”
The Murder of Kavin
Kavin Selvaganesh, 23, was a software professional.
He was found dead outside the same medical facility treating his grandfather and where his girlfriend worked. CCTV footage from outside the facility showed Surjith and Kavin; the latter was being driven away on the former’s motorcycle. That was moments before he was killed.
Surjith has surrendered to the police.
He faces murder charges and the cops have filed cases under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and have also filed cases against the parents.
READ | Tamil Dalit Techie Murder: Case Sent To Crime Branch Amid Outrage
A police officer told NDTV, “Surjith says he didn’t approve the relationship and, despite his warning, Kavin was in touch with her. Further investigation is underway”.
The young woman’s father has been arrested too.
The mother is also a serving police personnel and has been suspended.
The Caste Angle
The caste angle means the crime has stirred up a debate on honour killings in Tamil Nadu, a state that, for all its other accomplishments, remains troublingly mired in the caste system.
Kavin’s parents have refused to accept his body. They have demanded the young woman’s parents and brother be arrested for what they say is a “clear case of honour killing”.
They have also accused the police of bias given Surjith’s family connections.
READ | Tamil Dalit Techie Killed By Lover’s Brother Over Inter-Caste Romance
Actor-politician Kamal Haasan condemned the killing, calling for stringent punishment for the accused and a united political front to fight casteism.
All of this comes as Tamil Nadu preps for an Assembly election next year, with the opposition AIADMK and BJP having already attacked the ruling DMK for a breakdown in law and order.
