The case in which Kannagi, a young woman from the Vanniyar community and Murugesan, a Dalit, were murdered because of their inter-caste marriage is considered to be the first recorded honor killing case in Tamil Nadu.
New Delhi- The Supreme Court upheld the sentence of 11 convicts in the famous 2003 honor killing case of Tamil Nadu and said that casteism, which has penetrated deep into Indian society, is the root cause of this heinous crime. This case, in which Kannagi, a young woman from the Vanniyar community and Murugesan, a Dalit, were murdered because of their inter-caste marriage, is considered to be the first recorded honor killing case in Tamil Nadu.
Terming it as the “cruel reality of caste hierarchy”, a bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Prashant Kumar Mishra, in a hearing held on 28 April 2025, said, “Such crimes, ironically called honour killings, require severe punishment.
Case Details
This heartbreaking crime took place on 7-8 July 2003 in Pudukorapettai village in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu. Kannagi (Vanniyar community) and Murugesan (Dalit community), both 20 years old, were in love with each other. Murugesan had completed his B.E. in Chemical Engineering from Chidambaram and was working in Bengaluru, while Kannagi was pursuing B.Com. Knowing Kannagi’s family’s disapproval, the two secretly got married on 5 May 2003 before the Registrar of Marriages in Cuddalore.
In July 2003, when the two secretly left the village, the accused were arrested and the accused was arrested. Moved away, Kannagi’s brother Maruthupandiyan threatened Murugesan’s father Samikannu to bring Murugesan back. Maruthupandiyan falsely claimed that Murugesan had not returned the money he had borrowed from him. On 7 July, Murugesan was brought to the village, where he was stripped naked, tied to a pole and brutally beaten to reveal Kannagi’s whereabouts. This brutality took place in the presence of many people from the village, but no one tried to stop it.
Murugesan eventually revealed the whereabouts of Kannagi, who was in Moongilthuraipattu village. Kannagi was brought to the village, and on the morning of 8 July, both were taken to a cashew orchard and forcibly administered the pesticide Nuvacron (monocrotophos). Kannagi’s father Duraisamy gave this poison to Maruthupandiyan, who first administered the poison to his sister and then to Murugesan. Murugesan’s stepmother Chinnapillai, who was an eyewitness to the horrific incident, confirmed this in court. Both died within minutes, and their bodies were burnt at different places.
Two officers of Virudhachalam police station, Sub-Inspector K.P. Tamilmaran and Inspector M. Selamuthu, were accused of not registering an FIR immediately despite knowing about the crime. Chinnapillai tried to lodge a complaint on July 8, but was chased away from the police station with caste-related insults. The court said, “It is difficult to believe that such a heinous double murder could take place in the village and the in-charge of the police station was not aware of it.”
The FIR was registered nine days later, on July 17, 2003, following media and political pressure. In the initial investigation, Sellamuthu falsely accused four Dalit members of Murugesan’s family, including his father Samikannu. The Supreme Court termed the investigation as “motivated and totally dishonest” which sought to “save the culprits and implicate the innocent”.
The case was handed over to the CBI in 2004 on the direction of the Madras High Court, which filed a chargesheet against 15 accused in 2005. The trial court convicted 13 accused in 2021, awarding life imprisonment to 11 for murder and 2 under the SC/ST Act. Maruthupandian was awarded the death sentence, which was commuted to life imprisonment by the High Court in 2022.
Supreme Court’s verdict and comments on casteism
The Supreme Court upheld the Madras High Court’s verdict and upheld the conviction of 11 convicts. The sentence of one was limited to two years of rigorous imprisonment, while the life sentence of another accused was upheld as he was the “main architect of fabricating false evidence and implicating Dalits”. The court said, “At the root of this crime is India’s deeply ingrained caste hierarchy, and this most immoral act is termed as honour killing!”
The court also commented on the witnesses being “hostile” and the delay tactics, stating, “The long and unreasonable delay… reflects the gross incompetence of the prosecution and the delay tactics of the defence.” While holding Chinnapillai’s testimony credible, the court clarified that “close relatives who are natural witnesses cannot be rejected merely on the ground that they are willing witnesses.” The Supreme Court ordered Samikannu and Chinnapillai to jointly pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh, which will be paid by the Tamil Nadu government. This amount will be in addition to the compensation awarded by lower courts. The court said, “Such a wicked and heinous crime requires severe punishment and victim compensation.” All the convicts out on bail were directed to surrender within two weeks.
Courtesy : Geetha Sunil Pillai, Hindi News