India, New Delhi: Today police said, an student from the lowest Dalit caste was hacked to death and his wife critically injured in southern India in a suspected honour killing by relatives angered by their marriage. Three men armed with sickles and sharp weapons attacked the 22-year-old student and his wife, who is from a higher caste, on a crowded street in Tamil Nadu state Yesterday.

Local police commissioner N Manjunatha said the 19-year-old woman’s relatives were angered by the couple’s marriage. Manjunatha told AFP, “They married some eight months ago and the woman’s family was unhappy. She is an upper Thevar Hindu caste and the man was a Dalit”. He said, The woman is recovering at a local hospital and police are searching for her uncle in connection with the attack.

CCTV footage of the incident broadcast on Indian television showed the couple walking along the street when three men on a motorbike stop and attack them. Thevars are a dominant community in Tamil Nadu while Dalits, formerly known as untouchables, are a historically marginalised community. Supreme Court ruled in 2011 that those involved in honour killings should face the death penalty.