Young couples in Tamil Nadu who face threats from their families or communities for marrying outside their caste will finally have a legal recourse with the Tamil Nadu government setting up a special cell in Madurai district aimed at preventing honour killings.

The team will include police from the Madurai district, the District Adi Dravida welfare officer and District Social welfare officer. 

According to an announcement by the Madurai police, both the crime prevention cell and the serious crime squad will be roped in to deal with any complaints from couples that fear for their safety. The team has also provided a phone number (0452-2346302) for affected persons to contact them.

In addition to this, a 24-hour helpline was to be created to receive and register complaints. The cell also had to provide assistance/advice as well as protection to the couple.

In April last year, distressed by the killing of young couples in the name of family honour, the Madras High Court had directed the Tamil Nadu government to implement measures to protect these couples.

The court had given nine directives that included establishing a special cell in each district to receive complaints of threat from couples who marry people from another caste. The court had given districts three months to constitute these cells. 

Justice V Ramasubramanian had also directed the government to set apart a fund to protect those fleeing from the threat of murder.