Hyderabad: A complete shutdown was imposed in a town in Telangana’s Nalgonda district on Saturday, after a man was brutally murdered in a suspected case of honour killing.
Shops and business establishments remained shut as protests erupted demanding justice for Pranay Kumar, 23, who was hacked to death in front of his pregnant wife outside a local hospital.
The CCTV footage of the incident shows Kumar leaving the hospital along with his wife Amrutha Varshini, when a man suddenly attacked him from behind with a machete and killed him. Scanning of CCTV images of the last few days also revealed that the killer had conducted a recce of the area.
The couple was in love since their school days and had an inter-caste marriage against the wishes of the girl’s parents. Since then, Kumar was facing threats to his life, according to sources.
According to a report, five-month pregnant Amrutha fainted due to shock at the time of the incident and was rushed to the hospital. She later told the police that she suspects her father Maruthi Rao to be behind the murder because her family was against the marriage alliance and wanted her to have an abortion.
The police have reportedly arrested Rao, who allegedly hired a killer to murder Pranay. Amrutha’s uncle T. Shravan was also detained.
Pranay belonged to the Madiga scheduled caste whereas Amrutha was from the Vysya caste. Initially, both the families opposed the marriage. However, according to reports, Pranay’s parents finally gave in to the wedding after he told them that he would only live with her.
The gruesome murder has shocked the community and sparked protests by organisations that work for the welfare of Scheduled Castes.