Kin killed girl for marrying her cousin?

TIRUNELVELI: Police in Tirunelveli have exhumed the decomposed body of a teenaged girl who was allegedly murdered by her elder brother and a close relative in a suspected case of honour killing. Earlier, family members of the girl had complained to police that she was missing. The murder came to light three months after the victim Uchimahali allegedly eloped and married her cousin against the wishes of their respective families.Police have sent the body for post-mortem and DNA analysis. Uchimahali, a resident of Kondanagaram near Tirunelveli, had fallen in love with her 25-year old cousin Murugesan (son of her father’s brother). In October, they eloped to Madurai and got married. Marrying cousins is considered a taboo in their community. This had angered their family members.After around 20 days of the marriage, Murugesan had visited Koonivoor in Tirunelveli. On learning this, Uchimahali’s brother Mariappan and Murugesan’s brother Petchim uthu, overpowered Murugesan and confined him at a house. Using his mobile phone, they tracked Uchimalai and went to Madurai to meet her.Investigations show that Mariappan and Petchimuthu lured Uchimahali into accompanying them t o Tirunelveli where they strangled her to death and then buried her body near their village. Later, they planned to eliminate Murugesan, who had by then escaped.Initially, the police had on a complaint from some relatives, registered a case that the girl was missing. “Recently a villager had informed us about the murder.We have not altered the charges into a murder case and arrested Mariappan and Petchimuthu.Police also registered a case of criminal conspiracy against Murugesan’s father Vinayagam for allegedly abetting the crime.