And the Patriarchy Rages On…

Father of the Year (although, I grant, it is only two days in):

A suburban Chicago man is accused of setting an apartment fire -- killing his pregnant daughter, her husband and their young child -- because the son-in-law didn't ask permission for the marriage, prosecutors said.

…Prosecutors allege [Subhash Chander, 57, of Oak Forest, Illinois] used gasoline to start the fire late Saturday. The India native told police he disliked his son-in-law because he belonged to a lower caste and had married his daughter without his consent, said Cook County First Assistant State's Attorney Robert Milan.

…Milan identified the victims as 22-year-old Monika Rani, her 36-year-old husband, Rajesh Kumar, and their 3-year-old son, Vansh. Rani was five months pregnant, Milan said.

I suspect the failure to seek approval for the marriage was itself not the precipitating event of the murder; just one contributing factor to a dangerously dysfunctional relationship. It's telling, though, that Chander is invoking it in his defense nonetheless, as it suggests he has reason to believe there yet remain quarters in which he will find sympathy for a man who commits murder over the ownership of his daughter.

And, of course, he does.