Police have begun investigation into the alleged honour killing of a Koya tribal lover duo of Dhakadapali village of Maneru panchayat in Malkangiri district, whose bodies were found from the Saberi river at Dermapal in neighbouring Chhattisgarh recently.
According to a belated report, a 20-year-old youth and a minor girl had a love affair. Since there could not be marriage in the same caste in the Koya community, the duo had fled the village to Andhra Pradesh.
As the incident came to light, the village panchayat put pressure on the families of the boy and the girl to call them back to the village. Informed by their family members, the lover duo had arrived at the village on November 18 with a hope that the panchayat would resolve their case.
But to their bad luck, the villagers hacked the duo to death and severely thrashed the family members. later, they tied hands and legs of the boy and the girl and threw the bodies in the Saberi river.
“The villagers also threatened us of dire consequences if we informed the matter to the police,” said Irma Madhi, brother of the deceased youth, to the reporter of a TV channel.
The bodies were later traced by some people at Dermapali in Chhattisgarh on November 26. The local police identified the bodies and called up their family members for interrogation.
later, family members informed the Padia police station in Malkangiri district about the incident. “We are investigating the case and will take appropriate action against the culprits,” said Padia police station IIC Indrajit Pradhan.