Man killed by neighbour on daughter's wedding eve in Kerala

A person was killed by a gang of youths on the eve of the marriage of his daughter in Thiruvananthapuram.

Raju, 63, of Vadasserikonam near Varkala, around 40 kilometers from the city, was murdered late on Tuesday night. His daughter's marriage was scheduled to be held on Wednesday. Four persons, including two youths in the neighborhood, were held by the police.

Relatives of the deceased said that Raju's family had rejected the marriage proposal from a youth in the neighborhood. This was suspected to be the provocation.

The gang barged into the house by late on Tuesday night after the marriage eve reception was over. They attacked Raju, his wife and their daughter. A neighbor who rushed to save them was also attacked. Raju suffered serious head injuries in the attack using a spade. Though he was rushed to hospital, life could not be saved. Raju is an ex-NRI.

Though the accused tried to escape they were later nabbed.

District police chief Shilpa Dyavaiah said that prima facie grudge over rejecting marriage proposal by one of the accused was the provocation for the attack.

The youth who made the marriage proposal and his brother were among those held. They were said to have criminal history.

In a tragic incident, the father of a bride was killed near Kallambalam here allegedly by their neighbour on the eve of her wedding, police said on Wednesday. Raju (61) was allegedly killed by his neighbour Jishnu whose family had come with a marriage proposal for his daughter two years ago but the same was rejected by the victim.

As the decorations for the marriage, which was to take place at Sivagiri here at 11:10 am, were being removed, the victim's cousin brother told media that the accused, his brother Jijin and their two friends attacked the bride's family after the wedding eve festivities got over and all the guests had left.

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"They first came and attacked the bride and when her mother tried to stop them, she too was assaulted. That is when my brother intervened to stop them, but they brutally assaulted him and hit him on the head with a hand shovel."

"They also hit on the head of one of our relatives who lives nearby and came to the aid of the victim. He has six-seven stitches on the head," the victim's cousin said. He also said that the four had followed the vehicle in which the victim was taken to the hospital and on finding out he had died, they escaped from there. "They were later caught by locals of the area," he said.

The victim's cousin also said that even now the bride, nor her mother, have been told about the victim's death. He further said that the marriage proposal of the accused was rejected as he allegedly had a criminal background and was addicted to drugs and alcohol. Another relative of the victim said that the bride was a M.Sc graduate and while the accused was not even a graduate. She also said that the accused, after rejection of the proposal, had threatened the victim's family.

Police said that all the accused, aged between 25-30 years, were in custody and their arrest was yet to be recorded. The victim was hit on the head with a hand shovel and had collapsed at the site and on being taken to the hospital was declared dead on arrival by doctors. The exact reason for the altercation is not yet known and the inquest proceedings are ongoing, they said.