Bengaluru, November 19: The Mandya police has arrested three relatives of 19-year-old Swati, who was killed seven days ago along with her husband Nandish (26). The couple were murdered on the behest of girl's father, who was enraged by their inter-caste love marriage.

The Mandya police on Monday confirmed taking into custody three people, identified as relatives of Swati. They have confessed to the crime. A search is still underway to nab remaining of the accused. Honour Killing: Understanding India's Bloodiest Tradition To Uphold Honour.

The deceased couple had married in November last year, after Swati fled from her house. The duo were in love and decided to marry each other -- however, Swati's family was opposed to the marriage since they belonged to the upper-caste Vanniyar community, whereas, Nandish came from a Dalit family.

The couple were living in Hosur for the last 12 months, with no information about their whereabouts available with Swati's family. On November 12, they had come to Mandya to attend a public meeting being addressed by actor-politician Kamal Haasan.

Distant relatives of Swati informed her father Srinivas about her presence, which led to other members of the family arriving at the spot. After the rally concluded, they cornered Swati and Nandish, asking them to come to the police station where they would sort out the differences.

After seating them in their vehicles, the accused did not go the police station, but instead turned towards Shivanasamudra. After halting the car near the banks of river Cauvery, they tied the hands and feet of Nandish and threw him into the river. Similarly, Swati was also drowned to death.

The bodies were recovered by Mandya police on the following day. Preliminary probe revealed the honour killing angle, which led to the arrest of Srinivas. The deceased's father, on interrogation, expressed no remorse, claiming that murdering his daughter and her spouse was the only way to avenge the humiliation suffered by the family.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 19, 2018 09:37 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).