An investigation is on into a video showing brutal assault on a married couple by some villagers in Dasamantpur block after it went viral in social media.
While police are yet to ascertain the date when the couple was attacked, both of them attempted suicide on March 26.
While the 14-year-old boy died after he hanged himself to death, his wife, four years elder to him, survived after the ceiling of the thatched roof collapsed.
“We did not know the couple was assaulted by villagers, who were opposed to the inter-caste marriage, which is still considered a taboo in the tribal-dominated pockets. After seeing the video, we started our investigation to identify the attackers,” Koraput Sadar police station IIC Santosini Oram said.
The police sources said the Standard IX boy allegedly eloped with the 18-year-old girl on the day of her marriage with another man when the girl’s family disapproved of their relationship.
Though the couple was in love, the boy belonged to a lower caste. later, they returned to the village and stayed together, another police officer said.
The police suspect the couple attempted suicide on March 26 in the aftermath of a mob attack on them. The couple attempted suicide in a room at the boy’s house.