Kadhal Aran- How an app is helping couples escape honour killing
In India, inter-caste marriages can get you killed.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB in India), 3560 cases were reported with motive as “Honour Killing.”
The organisations working on the ground to prevent caste-based atrocities say that the number is grossly inaccurate and could be much higher. They estimate that more than 190 honour killing incidents have taken place since 2014 in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu alone.
In 2016, when Bharathi, who runs one such organization called ‘Aran’, heard about the Shankar-Kausalya honour killing incident that took place in the Udumalpet district of Tamil Nadu, India, he spurned into action. Deeply affected by the horrifying incident, he started making preparations for a moblie based application to help inter-caste couples get married and seek the protection of the law. Thus ‘Kadhal Aran’ app, which means ‘Save Love’ in Tamil, was born.
StoriesAsia member Journalist, Nantha Kishore, traveled to the Pollachi district in Tamil Nadu recently to talk to Bharathi. He also spent time with two couples who used the app to escape from getting honour killed.