SC man murder in Tirunelveli: activists demand law to prevent ‘honour’ killing

Twenty-seven-year-old Kavin Selvaganesh, a Scheduled Caste (SC) man who was brutally murdered on Sunday (July 27, 2025) in a suspected case of ‘honour’ killing, was a brilliant student, his teachers told The Hindu.

Kavin had been in a relationship with a woman since their school days, and recently, he expressed interest in marrying her. On Sunday, however, he was allegedly assaulted and killed by the woman’s brother, Surjith, 23, at KTC Nagar in Tirunelveli, according to the police.

The police have registered a case of murder and invoked sections under the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act, among others, against the accused.

Speaking to The Hindu over the phone, Kavin’s mother Tamilselvi, a teacher at a panchayat union school in Thoothukudi, said that her husband was a farm worker, and besides Kavin, they have a 25-year-old son named Praveen. After completing their engineering courses, both of them were placed in top tech firms in Chennai.

‘A brilliant student’

Teachers who taught Kavin at school describe him as a “brilliant boy” who would often help other students with their lessons, especially in mathematics and science. “We were shocked to hear about the way he died,” the teachers said.

A. Kathir of Evidence, an NGO from Madurai, said the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) should take efforts to establish an exclusive law to prevent ‘honour’ killing. In Tamil Nadu, he said, 65 ‘honour’ killings had been reported since 2017, while the government maintained that between 2015 and 2021, there were only three such crimes. “We have documented each case,” he said.

On average, one to two deaths, including suicides, were being reported every day in Tamil Nadu, where youngsters died due to threats from families over disagreements regarding their choice of partner. “An exclusive Act would discourage violators from committing such crimes,” he added.

In the case of Kavin, the parents of the accused were working as Sub-Inspectors in the Police department. Hence, the case should be transferred to the CBI, he demanded, and urged that the government give protection to the victim’s family.