The quiet hamlet of Arumugamangalam near the banks of the Tamirabharani in southern Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district has just about 300 families. Since Sunday last (July 27), however, the residents have lost sleep, with senior Ministers, politicians, top police officers, and leaders of caste outfits visiting this otherwise nondescript village. The visits followed a cold blooded murder that stemmed from a love affair, involving a boy from the Scheduled Castes and a girl of an intermediate caste. For some, it was a crime that deserved punishment.
Chandrasekar, father of the victim, C. Kavin Selvaganesh, lives at Arumugamangalam, 25 km from the district headquarters of Thoothukudi, to take care of his farmland. His family of three — wife Tamilselvi, a teacher at Ananthamadan Pacheri near Thoothukudi, and sons Kavin and Praveen — had moved to Thoothukudi. After completing his SSLC at a school in Chidambara Nagar in Thoothukudi, Kavin moved to a higher secondary school on Meelavittaan Road on the outskirts of the town. It was here he met his classmate Subhashini, daughter of two Sub-Inspectors of police.
“They were good friends since their schooldays, and caste was not so important to them,” says Praveen.
Maturing into love
After Class XII, Kavin joined the B.E. Civil Engineering (2017-21) course at a private engineering college in Nalattinpudur near Kovilpatti in Thoothukudi district. Meanwhile, Subhashini realised her dream of becoming a siddha doctor by studying in a Coimbatore-based private siddha medical college.
The couple remained in touch during their college days. After completing his Civil Engineering degree with a gold medal, Kavin joined a construction firm in Coimbatore. Then, he switched to Information Technology, securing a job in a Chennai-based multinational company with an enviable salary package.
Subhashini, whose parents had by then moved from Thoothukudi to the neighbouring Tirunelveli, started practising siddha medicine at a private hospital at KTC Nagar in Palayamkottai. By this time, their friendship had evolved into love.
When Kavin’s mother came to know about this, she cautioned him against continuing the affair as Subhashini is from a Most Backward Caste and they belong to the Scheduled Castes, a union no one from the girl’s side would approve of. However, Kavin ignored the warning and continued his relationship.
The police said that Subhashini’s younger brother Surjith, a B.Com. graduate and athlete, had come to know about the relationship on May 30 and informed his parents Saravanan and Krishnakumari. The girl, the police added, denied that they were in a relationship when her parents questioned her.
One reason she hid her love was that Kavin had requested her to wait for six more months because he wanted to move further up in his career.
Kavin had shared his mother’s anxiety with Subhashini and she had spoken to Tamilselvi on the phone to allay her fears. Yet, the mother’s worst fear came true around 3 p.m. on July 27. That day, Tamilselvi’s father Muthumalai had suffered an injury on the head. Kavin had taken him to the hospital where Subhashini works. Tamilselvi and his younger brother accompanied them to the hospital, where Subhashini explained to them about the line of treatment to be followed.
Meanwhile, as Kavin stepped outside, Surjith was waiting for him. Both left the place on Surjith’s bike, Kavin on the pillion.
Only when the conversation between Subhashini and Tamilselvi ended, did they realise that Kavin was not there. Their repeated attempts to contact him failed as he did not attend the calls.
Subhashini asked them to have lunch and assured them that she would send Kavin back home when he returned. However, he never returned.
Attacked with machete
The police said Surjith had stopped the bike and hacked him with a machete. The victim’s relatives say Surjith, after sprinkling chilli powder on Kavin’s face, hacked him. With four sharp cuts landing on the neck and the head, Kavin died on the spot.
Passers-by and residents alerted the Palayamkottai police, who nabbed Surjith immediately. Besides Surjith, the First Information Report named Sub-Inspectors Saravanan and Krishnakumari as the second and third accused. Saravanan was arrested on the night of July 30.
“Krishnakumari is yet to be arrested. We have demanded the transfer of this case to the CBI,” says advocate S.R. Ramachandran of Thoothukudi, who is working with the family of the deceased.
While theories were floated that Kavin and Subhashini were just friends, a few photos have surfaced on social media exhibiting the bond between them. In a bid to put the speculation to rest, the girl released a video in which she unequivocally admitted that she was in love with Kavin. In the same breath, she said her parents were innocent and they were not aware of Surjith’s plan to murder Kavin.
Shell-shocked: Arumugamangalam, located near the banks of the Tamirabharani in southern Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district, is a sleepy hamlet. It has just about 300 families. Its residents have been left in shock after the murder of Kavin
Selvaganesh.
| Photo Credit:
N. RAJESH
Leaders of caste outfits and caste-based political parties are staging protests in support of the bereaved family and demanding ‘Justice for Kavin’.
“This barbaric crime continues as there is no draconian law to crush this evil. Since ‘caste killing’ is a national issue, the Union government, in line with the Supreme Court guidelines, should enact a law with stringent provisions to eradicate murders of Scheduled Caste members by those of other communities in the name of caste,” says Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader and MP Thol. Thirumavalavan, who met the family on July 31 at Arumugamangalam. He also demanded the constitution of a separate government agency to stamp out caste killings.
The youth wing leader of Puthiya Thamizhagam, K. Shyam, the son of party founder K. Krishnasamy, also bats for a law with more stringent provisions to uproot caste killings. He urges the State government not to post members of a particular most backward community, especially as Collectors, Superintendents of Police, Deputy Superintendents of Police, and revenue officials.
“Since the Scheduled Castes are always at the receiving end of the aggression of this particular community, the government should not post officials of this caste in the already communally sensitive southern Tamil Nadu, where several caste clashes had occurred in the past,” he says.
A. Kathir, executive director, Evidence, a Madurai-based NGO, says the recent caste killing is another example of how Tamil society has been embroiled in the system of graded inequality.
While other caste killings were staged by people with a conservative mindset, this one was committed by a youngster raised in an urban surrounding, he adds.
Pointing to the complexity in such killings, he says these incidents happen even within the same castes. “When a person of the Scheduled Caste or the Scheduled Tribe is the victim, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act could be invoked, but what can be done when the victim is from the Backward Class or the Most Backward Class, or the victim and the accused are both from the Scheduled Castes,” he asks.
He says that about 51 murders related to caste violence have been registered between 2017 and 2025, and the conviction rate is less than 1%.
‘Exclusive law needed’
Stressing the need for an exclusive Act to deal with honour killings, related to caste or gender or class, he says that after a yearlong study and research, a group of activists came up with a draft for a special Act, titled The Freedom of Marriage and Association and Prohibition of Crimes in the Name of Honour Act, 2022.
The framework was arrived at after the modus operandi and social structure and practices in every State were analysed. This draft should be tabled in Parliament for discussion, he pointed out.
“Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, when in the Opposition, promised that his government would pass an Act to prevent honour crimes, but it has not been done so far,” he adds.
In the meantime, if the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in Shakti Vahini vs Union of India were followed rigorously, these crimes could be prevented in the caste-ridden Tamil society, Mr. Kathir says.
In Kavin’s murder, the Inspector who registered the case was from the same community as the accused. “Though I do not want to blame the entire police department, for better policing and law and order, police officials posted in a region should not be of the predominant caste there,” he adds.
Henri Tiphagne, human rights activist and executive director of People’s Watch, alleges that police personnel are among the accused in this case; hence, their arrest is being delayed. “Anyone involved must be arrested immediately, and the case should be expedited to ensure swift punishment,” he adds.
