The murder of 18-year-old M Santhiya by a 17-year-old shocked Tirunelveli, and highlighted the need for action against stalking and harassment.
The accused had been stalking M Santhiya for weeks and had even threatened her a month before he killed her.
One month before 18-year-old M Santhiya was allegedly murdered by a Hindu upper-caste 17-year-old boy in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, he apparently stalked her for weeks and threatened her.
However, the Scheduled Caste (SC) girl’s family members said they did not take the stalking and the threat seriously, and hence did not file a complaint against the accused, who belongs to the Nadar community, with the police.
According to her family, she was once in a relationship with the boy, but ended it as she believed they could never marry given the differences in their castes.
That’s when the stalking allegedly began, escalating to threats, and culminating in murder.
Santhiya was working in an imitation jewellery shop and the accused was employed in a neighbouring store near the Nellaiappar temple in Tirunelveli city, which is also the district headquarters.
According to the FIR registered by the police based on a complaint by Santhiya’s parents, when she went to the godown of her workplace on 2 October, the juvenile followed her, slit her throat, and fled the premises.
Santhiya’s death, however, became a talking point only when some officials of Tirunelveli police, who nabbed the culprit, clicked a selfie with him. The selfie with the accused taken by Sub-Inspector Sakthi Natarajan went viral on social media.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (Tirunelveli range) Parvesh Kumar suspended Grade-1 Constable Jebamani who shot a video — which also went viral — where the police were seen consoling the accused.
With the incident gaining attention, questions began to be asked as to why Santhiya or her family had not approached the police even when the accused threatened her.
An advocate told South First that young women are often discouraged from registering complaints against their stalkers as the police usually resort to moral lecturing and ask the girls to bring along their parents.
Following Santhiya’s murder, the Tirunelveli Town Police registered an FIR, booking the accused under Sections 3(1)(r), 3(1)(s), 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act of 2015 for insulting and abusing a Scheduled Caste member in public.
The accused was also slapped with Section 452 (wrongfully restraining a person), 302 (punishment for murder) and 506(2) of the IPC.
According to the FIR and the family members, Santhiya ended her relationship with the boy after learning that he belonged to an upper caste.
“She knew that the relationship could never culminate in a marriage as the boy belonged to the Nadar community,” a friend of Santhiya told South First on condition of anonymity.
People acquainted with Santhiya describe her as calm and humble, with a select set of friends.
They recalled that Santhiya’s dream of pursuing higher education was cut short when she had to drop out after higher secondary education and get a job to provide for the family.
Her parents are farm labourers, and she was the youngest of their three daughters, they said.
After the marriage of their eldest daughter, Santhiya and her other sister Kokila had been financially supporting their parents.
“Santhiya had been working for about seven months and had also enrolled in a computer class,” Kokila told South First.
She said that Santhiya was a good companion to her, as they would go to work together, sleep next to each other, and enjoy talking.
About a month before the murder, when Kokila and Santhiya were returning home from work, the accused stalked them and threatened Santhiya, said Kokila.
“I told our parents about the threat and they asked Santhiya to quit work for her safety. However, she told us that the threat was not a big deal,” Kokila said.
“Had we known the intensity of the boy’s feelings, we would have lodged a complaint for stalking and harassment,” said 25-year-old Ananth K, Santhiya’s brother-in-law.
In 2016, a 24-year-old IT professional named Swathi was allegedly hacked to death by 27-year-old Ram Kumar, an engineering graduate, at the Nungambakkam railway station in Chennai. She had allegedly rejected his marriage proposal.
In another incident in September 2021, a 20-year-old college student was allegedly stabbed to death by her “boyfriend” in broad daylight near the Tambaram railway station in Chennai, following differences between them.
The common factor in all these cases is that the accused stalked and harassed the victim for days before the murder, and the victims did not lodge complaints.
According to Madras High Court advocate Jyothi Lakshmi, girls are discouraged from lodging complaints at police stations because of the unprofessional attitude of the police.
“I witnessed many incidents where girls were treated badly, even by the women police officials, for complaining about their partners. Rather than registering a complaint, the police acted as custodians of morality and asked the girls to bring along their parents,” said Jyothi Lakshmi.
As per the IPC Section354 (D), anybody convicted of stalking faces up to three years of imprisonment with a fine. If convicted again, the punishment can be extended to five years’ imprisonment with a fine.
However, fear of reprisals could also stop victims from lodging a complaint in some instances.
This appeared to be the case with a software employee from Chennai named Hema Kumari, who was in 2021 stalked for a month by her coworker.
“I ignored it for a few weeks. He continued to do so even after I expressed my disinterest,” she said.
“Even though my friends tried to persuade me to lodge a complaint against my coworker, I was frightened to do so. I was scared that he might retaliate,” she added.
“Between reporting it to the police and staying put at home, my family would choose the latter. So, I took a transfer to a different city rather than lodge a complaint,” said Kumari.
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