Kottayam: After a suspected case of honour killing sent shock waves across Kerala, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday termed the incident as 'unfortunate' and said that the culprits will be brought to book soon.
Kevin P Joseph, 23, a resident of SH Mount, Kottayam, was allegedly abducted by an armed gang led by his wife's brother. His body was found in a stream, near Thenmala, in Kollam district on Monday, a day after his wife Neenu Chacko complained to the police that Kevin had been abducted.
The woman, who arrived at the police station along with her husband's friend and relatives, alleged in her complaint that the police didn't act promptly citing lack of personnel owing to the visit of CM.
However, Pinarayi refuted the allegations and said that it was for the police to act with discretion and there was no need to drag CM's name into this gruesome incident.
“There's a special team for CM's security. So reports that the police personnel were on CM's security duty are false,” Pinarayi said.
Sub-inspector of Gandhinagar MS Shibu was suspended for failing to take action in time on receipt of the complaint.
Love story gone wrong
Kevin had met Neenu as she pursued a course in a Kottayam college. The two of them registered their marriage on Friday at a sub-registrar office as the family of the girl had fiercely objected to their marriage. Neenu's family later registered a complaint with the police stating that she had gone missing. Though the police summoned the two, Kevin and Anish left the girl back at her hostel as she confirmed that she intended to go with Kevin.
The complaint said the bridegroom was abducted by the brother of the bride to avenge the act of marriage. Kevin and his relative Anish, 31, were abducted early morning on Sunday. The abductors thrashed Anish severely and left him on the way. Anish, who suffered severe injuries on his face in the attack, has been admitted to the medical college hospital.
His severely injured body was recovered on Monday.
Read more: Latest Kerala news