Kausalya Shankar: Honour Killing Survivor Turns Salon Owner, Continues Fight Against Caste Violence

Published : Jun 13, 2024 19:46 IST - 6 MINS READ Zha Family Salon’s second branch opened in Gandhimaa Nagar, one of Coimbatore’s premier commercial localities, on May 26. Eight years ago, Tamil Nadu became acquainted with Kausalya when her husband V. Shankar, a 22-year-old Dalit man from Komaralingam town in Tiruppur district, was brutally murdered in broad daylight in a case of honour killing. Prasanna S., an Advocate-on-Record of the Supreme Court and Kausalya’s lawyer spoke to Frontline about the complex nature of the case and attributed the Madras High Court’s acquittal to “insufficient evidence”. Speaking of the Principal District and Sessions Court in Tiruppur sentencing six of the 11 accused to death he said, “The gravity of the offence, in that it was driven by caste discrimination, coupled with widespread media attention made the Court to deliver a verdict that would send a message.” Uplifting others Besides fighting for justice, Kausalya has had to fight to remake her life. That has changed and I want Zha’s customers to notice that.” Meanwhile, eight years after Shankar’s murder, inter-caste marriages continue across Tamil Nadu, but so does the fanatic protection of caste purity.