Man, son held in Kerala 'honour killing' case

 Kerala Police on Tuesday said the absconding father and brother of 20-year-old Neenu Chacko were arrested for the brutal murder of her 24-year-old husband Kevin Joseph.

Neenu's father Chacko John and her brother Shanu Chacko, the alleged masterminds of the crime, were arrested in Kannur and would be taken to Kottayam by police. Three persons were arrested late Monday night. 

Kevin's body bearing torture marks was found on Monday at a dam site near Kollam and the preliminary autopsy report suggested he could have been forcibly drowned.

Since Kevin belonged to a family of converted Christians whereas Neenu's father is a Christian and her mother a Muslim, Neenu's family was strongly opposed to the marriage which was registered on May 24. 

Fearing violence by her family, Kevin had dropped Neenu at a women's hostel in Kottayam and himself went to a relative's house. 

A group of persons forcibly whisked away Kevin early on Sunday. After Neenu failed to get his response to her repeated calls, she approached police at Kottayam but was shooed away on the pretext of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's visit that was to end late Sunday night.

A huge crowd gathered at the funeral of Kevin on Tuesday evening in his parish here, where Neenu paid her last respects to her husband of just five days.

Tempers ran high at the sombre event as people expressed anger against Vijayan and the police for its inaction.

Leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala told the media in the state capital on Tuesday that police was the main culprit in the murder case.

"It has now come to light that the killers of Kevin had good relations with police. Vijayan has turned out to be an abject failure as police functioning has gone haywire. Vijayan cannot wash his hands of the matter as he is equally responsible too," the Congress leader said.