Athira, of Areekode in Malappram, was stabbed to death by her father, Rajan.Areekode, Malappuram: A pall of gloom descended on the house in Poovathikandi on Friday as a group of people who were to celebrate the joyous occasion of Athira's wedding took part in her funeral, instead. And merely because a fiercely adamant man clinging on to his notion of honour killed his own daughter, on the eve of her wedding.
Athira, 22, who was stabbed to death by her father, Rajan, on Thursday was cremated on Friday. The police investigating the murder insist it was an honour killing. The father, Rajan, had fiercely opposed her love affair with a youth from another caste, they said, adding that nobody else in the family had any objection to her marriage.
“I thought it would bring disgrace to my family if my daughter were to marry a a guy from the Dalit community," he reportedly told the police. Rajan, 42, will be produced in court Saturday.
The police had taken an initiative to bring the two families together for talks on March 16, where an agreement was reached for the marriage of the two.
The police had summoned both families after they received a complaint from her kin that she had gone missing. Rajan, who vehemently opposed the wedding, was forced to give his consent after the talks mediated by the police. An agreement was reached to conduct the marriage in a temple on Friday.
However, on Thursday evening Rajan picked up a fight with Athira and stabbed her to death. Meanwhile, the bereaved groom, a soldier from Panthalayani, alleged that the police failed to provide security to Athira. He said cops were informed that Athira faced threat from her father, but they failed to protect her.
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