Scribd
Upload
32 views2 pages

Casteism

Kausalya and her husband V Shankar were attacked by a group sent by her father due to their inter-caste marriage, resulting in Shankar's death. Following this tragedy, Kausalya transformed into a prominent anti-caste activist and became the principal witness against her father, although a recent court ruling overturned the death sentences of the assailants. Her story has been adapted into a documentary highlighting the deep-rooted casteism in India and the challenges faced by inter-caste couples in a society that often punishes such unions.

Uploaded by

aanya2006.aa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
32 views2 pages

Casteism

Kausalya and her husband V Shankar were attacked by a group sent by her father due to their inter-caste marriage, resulting in Shankar's death. Following this tragedy, Kausalya transformed into a prominent anti-caste activist and became the principal witness against her father, although a recent court ruling overturned the death sentences of the assailants. Her story has been adapted into a documentary highlighting the deep-rooted casteism in India and the challenges faced by inter-caste couples in a society that often punishes such unions.

Uploaded by

aanya2006.aa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

On March 13th, 2016, Kausalya and her husband, V Shankar, had gone to

Udumalpet, the town closest from Shankar’s village, Kumaralingam, to buy a


shirt for him. When they exited the clothing shop, the couple was set upon by
a group of five men. Grainy CCTV footage captured shows Shankar being
repeatedly hacked even as Kausalya is hit and attacked. By the time they were
taken to the nearest hospital, Shankar had succumbed to his injuries. The men
had been sent by Kausalya’s father; Chinnasamy, a financier who was enraged
that his daughter, a Thevar which is a politically powerful OBC community in
Tamil Nadu, had married Shankar, a Dalit. Shankar was 22, Kausalya, 19. They
had been married for less than a year.

In the four years that have followed Shankar’s death, Kausalya has shed
her old skin, of being a quiet homebound girl, to become a prominent anti-
caste activist. She is also the principal witness in the case against her father. In
2017, a district court had awarded him and five of the assailants death penalty
even though her mother was acquitted. However, on June 23rd, the fiery
activist who now drives a motorcycle to work and counsels other couples,
suffered a setback when the Madras High Court delivered a verdict to set aside
the death sentence awarded to five convicts and acquittal of her father in the V
Shankar murder case.

It has been close to 21 months since her husband Sankar was hacked to
death right in front of her. The couple were married for eight months and were
living at Komaralingam in Tamil Nadu’s Tirupur district when tragedy struck. In
an event that forever changed her life, Kausalya has emerged stronger,
becoming the face that demands justice for honour killings and caste-based
violence.

Kausalya's story has been made into a documentary, directed by


Sadhana Subramanian which has received a nod for the International Emmy
Awards in the Best Documentary category. The film reconstructs her memory
from their daily bus ride to showing how deep rooted casteism is and what
triggered them to plan the heinous crime, it is a tell-all tale. The director
realised that even as India hurtles towards modernity, many traditional and
entrenched attitudes such as those that underpin caste, maintain a tight grip
on sections of society in this enormous and varied country.

With local government officials slow to interfere when the perpetrators


are from a higher, and often powerful caste, living without fear becomes
unimaginable for inter-caste couples. A perspective of the upper caste explains
that caste purity can only be maintained through endogamy (the custom
of marrying only within the limits of a local community, clan, or tribe) and a
woman’s assertion not only damages the reputation of the family but also the
entire community that sets a dangerous precedent for others. The family
worries about her claim in the property as well as ostracization (to prevent
someone from taking part in the activities of a group) from the community.

The state now grapples with caste prejudices that dictates its politics. In
its current form, caste-based politics has vilified inter-caste marriages, calling it
love-jihad, and are basking in the rift that these clashes have caused to secure
their vote banks.

You might also like