Tamil Nadu: Inter-caste wedding turns tragic, boy's father commits suicide

Krishnagiri: Fearing social stigma arising out of the inter-caste marriage of his son, a 50-year-old farmer has committed suicide by hanging from a tree in his farmland in Krishnagiri.

On Sunday, the relatives of B. Basappa of Kodithimmanapalli village in Shoolagiri police limits in the district went in search of him after he failed to return home. They found him dead and his body was hanging from a tree in his land.

Investigations revealed that Basappa, who belongs to a ‘most backward community (MBC)’, was upset because of the inter-caste marriage of his 23-year-old son Suresh with 21-year-old Adi-dravida community (Dalit) girl J. Mageshwari, who also hails from the same village. However, the farmer, without informing his relatives, moved out of the house on Saturday night and ended his life quietly, fearing social stigma from his people.

Meanwhile, the young bride, Mageshwari gave a police complaint in Shoolagiri police station to trace her missing husband. The girl claimed that her husband, Suresh was kidnapped by his relatives, when the couple was heading towards Shoolagiri police station for seeking protection in fear of trouble from caste Hindus. According to the couple’s petition, Suresh and Mageshwari married on February 17 without informing their parents. Their marriage was solemnised in a temple in Majestic Circle area of Bengaluru in Karnataka.

Suresh’s relatives, after coming to know about his marriage with the girl belonging to the different community, had called them and conducted a ‘kangaroo court’ which ordered Suresh to leave his wife Mageshwari and marry another girl of his caste. Suresh failed to accept the wish. Nonetheless, the groom was allegedly kidnapped by his relatives when the couple was coming near the Shoolagiri Kothamalli market around 10.30 am on Friday.

Shoolagiri police registered a case and are probing if Suresh was kidnapped as alleged by his wife or if he went on his own volition to his family.