Couple hacked to death over 22-cent debt

The killings by the shopkeeper over a debt of 15 rupees ($0.22 cents, 0.20 euros) occurred in the district of Mainpuri, in Uttar Pradesh state, police said Friday.

The couple was confronted on Thursday by the owner of a grocery store where they had bought items on credit the previous week.

"The shopkeeper demanded money but they pleaded to be able to pay it later. He became enraged and attacked them with an ax," Arun Kumar, the investigating officer in Mainpuri district, told news agency AFP.

The officer said the owner was arrested shortly after the incident and the weapon had been recovered.

The victims were members of the Dalit social group - formerly known as "untouchables" - which is at the lowest level of India's caste system. The grocer was understood to be a member of an upper caste. Despite laws in India barring discrimination against people who are Dalit, incidents of violence and discrimination against them are reported regularly.

According to the latest figures released by India's national criminal records bureau, more than 33,000 people were murdered in India in 2014.

se/msh (AFP, dpa)