Kevin's death: Police detain wife's brother, father

A day after the body of Kevin P Joseph (23) was recovered from a canal in Chaliyekkara in Kollam district, police have arrested two key suspects in connection with the case.

Chacko and Shanu Chacko, the father and brother of Kevin’s wife Neenu, were detained in Kannur by a Special Investigation Team.

It was reported that Kevin was abducted from his home in Mannanam, in Kottayam district, on Sunday by a group of men led by Shanu. Four others are in police custody in connection with what is suspected to be an incident of honour killing.

Kevin's body was found four days after his marriage with Neenu was registered against the wishes of her family.

Neenu, a native of Thenmala in Kollam, had approached the Gandhinagar Police in Kottayam on Sunday, stating that Kevin and his relative Anish were abducted by some men, including her brother.

The police, it is alleged, failed to initiate prompt action. Gandhinagar Sub Inspector M S Shibu was suspended and Kottayam Superintendent of Police V M Mohammed Rafeeque was transferred in the wake of the allegations.

On Tuesday, hundreds bid an emotional farewell to Kevin at a funeral at the Good Shepherd Church cemetery in Kottayam.

The Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front and the BJP had called for a shutdown in the district on Tuesday. Reports quoting from the post-mortem report said Kevin was likely to have died after drowning.

Kevin, an electrician from a Dalit Christian family, and Neenu, daughter of a Christian father and Muslim mother, had decided to marry after Neenu's family raised objection to their two-year-long relationship and finalised her marriage with another man.

The death has set off a series of protests led by the opposition Congress against the ineffective policing under the CPM-led state government.