Honour killing: farmer hacks daughter to death

In an incident of honour killing, a farmer yesterday allegedly hacked his daughter, who attempted to run away with her lover, to death and then killed his wife who tried to intervene at Nattarpatti village in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.

Police, who described the incident as honour killing, said the farmer Vinaitheerthan (63) had a heated exchange with his 21-year-old daughter Arunadevi when she was leaving home early this morning for eloping with her lover Devarajan, a mechanic, of the same area.

The farmer objected to their affair for the past two years and had warned his daughter against meeting Devarajan who reportedly belonged to another community.

Arunadevi got up at around 4 am to run away with her lover but her father stopped her, leading to an altercation, police said.

Police said he then hacked her to death. When her mother tried to intervene, he attacked her with a pestle. Both the women died on the spot. The farmer later surrendered to the police who arrested him.