Wife of honour killing victim dies by suicide in Tamil Nadu

Neelam Cultural Centre, an NGO run by ace director Pa. Ranjith, alleged that the police’s failure in arresting her father and another brother who were involved in it was the reason for her taking the extreme step.

Chennai: Two months after her husband was hacked to death by her brother and four others in a suspected ‘honour killing’, a 21-year-old woman died on Monday following an alleged suicide attempt. Sharmila, who was living with her late husband’s family, attempted suicide on April 14 and was rushed to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here, where she breathed her last at around 7 pm on April 22.

Sharmila and Praveen (22) got married in October 2023 against the wishes of the girl’s family who were not in agreement with the relationship as the man belonged to Scheduled Caste (SC) while they were Vanniyars, a dominant caste spread across northern Tamil Nadu.

On February 25, 2024, Praveen was hacked to death by Sharmila’s elder brother, Dinesh, and his accomplices, Sridhar, Stefen Kumar, Jothi Linga, and Vishnu Raj, all five were arrested by the police.

Sharmila had then alleged that her family was responsible for the death of her husband Praveen and demanded strict action against them. While Praveen was a mechanic, Sharmila was pursuing her engineering course when they got married.

Praveen’s mother Chitra said Sharmila was distraught ever since her husband was killed by her family members but they never thought she would take her life.

“We have filed a complaint with the police alleging that Sharmila was distressed with police inaction in the case,” Chitra said, adding that their demand for a CB-CID probe into Praveen’s murder fell into deaf ears. Incidentally, Sharmila’s father is a local DMK functionary.

Chitra also said that Sharmila was preparing for her final semester exams and was stressed after she came to know that her brother Dinesh, the prime accused, has applied for bail. “She used to cry everyday thinking about my son. We never thought she would leave us,” her mother-in-law said.

In what is believed to be a suicide note, Sharmila has said that she cannot live without her husband and hence took the decision of ending her own life. “They took my life from me. They killed him. I don’t want to be alive in a world where he isn’t present. Let me go to him (Praveen),” the suicide note read.

Neelam Cultural Centre, an NGO run by ace director Pa. Ranjith, alleged that the police’s failure in arresting Sharmila’s father and another brother was the reason for her taking the extreme step. “The Tamil Nadu government should protect inter-caste married couples. As part of this, the government should come out with legislation against honour killings,” it said in a statement.