Karnataka honour killing: Girl murdered by father for eloping with Dalit boy

Days after a brutal caste-related atrocity in Tamil Nadu, there has been another similar incident, this time in Karnataka. In what is suspected to be a case of honour killing, a Hindu girl, Monica, from Mandya district, was murdered by her family for being in love with a Dalit boy, said an IBNLive report. According to a report in The Hindu, the girl’s father Mohan Bevooragowda (44), and his relative D Suresh (35) have been arrested after they admitted to killing Monica because they believed it was important to ‘protect the family’s honour’. Monica was 18 years old and belonged to the Gowda community. Speaking to The   News Minute, District Superintendent of Police, Sudheer Kumar Reddy said that the family cremated her body on their farmland in Mandya in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Apparently the family’s hurried cremation gave rise to suspicion, proceeding which the police arrived but the body was completely burnt, leaving no proof. [caption id=“attachment_2713654” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Getty Images[/caption] Monica had eloped, before she was found and brought back home, said the IBNLive report. The report further added that the girl was forced to write a suicide note before she was strangled to death. SP Reddy also said that the girl was physically tortured. Monica allegedly went missing on 31 March, before she was found with the help of Mandya Rural police. The family is said to have found out about the elopement as Monica had previously attempted to elope and the family discovered through sources that she was in love with a Dalit boy, said the The  News Minute report. A human rights group named Karnataka Jana Shakti organised a protest on Monday, rallying against the incident. One of the members said that there have been five instances of honour killing in the last five years across different districts in Karnataka but none of these cases are pursued further as the minority communities are discouraged to do so, said The News Minute’s  report. News of Monica’s murder comes just weeks after a Dalit man was murdered in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu. The Dalit man and his upper caste wife were attacked by goons, hired by the girl’s father. Five men have been arrested in connection with the brutal murder of the Dalit youth. Shankar (22) and Kausalya (19), whose inter-caste marriage was opposed by their families, were attacked by a gang, who came on a motorcycle, with sickles in full public view on Sunday in nearby Tirupur district, resulting in the death of the husband. The couple, who married eight months ago despite opposition from their families, were waiting at the Udumalpet bus stand when they were attacked. With inputs from PTI