Newlywed man murdered by bride's family at K'giri in India

C. Jagan
born: 1997
murdered: March 21, 2023
Crime scene: K'giri, Andhra Pradesh, India
Origin: India
Children: none
Perpetrator: his father-in-law Shankar (43), G. Nagaraj (21), M. Murali (20)

Jagan is a 26-year-old construction worker from the village of Kittampatti in India. He works as a tile repairer. Jagan was in love with S. Saranya (21) from a nearby village. Saranya's parents opposed their love affair and decided to force Saranya to marry a man of their choice.

In February 2023, Saranya fled her home, cut ties with her family and married Jagan. Although they both belonged to the same Vanniyar community, Jagan was economically poorer than his wife.

Jagan's in-laws were angry about the developments and they made a plan to kill him. They knew that he went to work daily on his motorcycle via a certain route. On Tuesday, March 21, around 2 p.m., Jagan was pushed off his motorcycle and slaughtered by three men with sickles in front of many shocked witnesses. One of the attackers was his father-in-law Shankar (43).

Chilling video footage exists showing Jagan's legs being held by one attacker while the others repeatedly beat him with sickles as a result of which Jagan dies. The trio then escaped on their motorcycles.

The trio would later surrender to local authorities. The two men who helped Shankar were G. Nagaraj (21) and M. Murali (20).

Angry relatives of Jagan ransacked Shankar's house.

What is an honour killing?

An honour killing is a murder in the name of honour. If a brother murders his sister to restore family honour, it is an honour killing. According to activists, the most common reasons for honour killings are as the victim:

refuses to cooperate in an arranged marriage.
wants to end the relationship.
was the victim of rape or sexual assault.
was accused of having a sexual relationship outside of marriage.

Human rights activists believe that 100,000 honour killings are carried out every year, most of which are not reported to the authorities and some are even deliberately covered up by the authorities themselves, for example because the perpetrators are good friends with local policemen, officials or politicians. Violence against girls and women remains a serious problem in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Serbia and Turkey.