Naresh went missing after he arrived at Swati's hometown Bhongir, around 40 km from Hyderabad
The Telangana police chief has been asked by the Hyderabad High Court to name a senior police officer to probe the disappearance of a 23-year-old man who had married a 20-year-old girl in Mumbai against her parents' wishes less than two months ago. The young couple from Telangana - Amboji Naresh and Tummala Swati - belonged to different castes. Now, she is dead and he has disappeared. The inquiry report is to be presented in court on June 1.
With each passing day, Naresh's parents say their worry is growing that their worst fears about their only son may come true.
"Let him (Swati's father) tell us, was Naresh killed because he married your daughter and he was from lower caste, and you people are Reddy? Tell us where he is, why torture us like this?" Naresh's father Venkataiah says.
Naresh went missing over two weeks ago from the bus-stand at Bhongir, aout 40 kilometres from Hyderabad, where the couple got off from a bus coming from Mumbai. Naresh and Swati were childhood friends and classmates in college. They married in Mumbai but were allegedly forced to return two days later as there were phone calls to the couple and to Naresh's father that his brother (Naresh's uncle) is in police custody and the couple must come home only then the police would let him off.
"They came to Bhongir and I even handed over Swati at the police station to her father. But within three to four days, she came back to Mumbai and told me she will not go anywhere away from my son Naresh. What could I do?" Venkataiah asks.
Naresh's mother Indira says she has lost all sleep and has been fainting often with worry and anxiety. "Has he been kept captive somewhere? Is he even alive? We must know what happened to our only son?" she says.
Swati had informed the Mumbai Police on the day of her marriage itself that she expected trouble from her family. She allegedly committed suicide on Monday just hours before she was to be presented in court. Naresh's parents allege the local police in Bhongir had not supported the couple but tried to separate them.
The lawyer of Venkataiah brought this up in court, when he demanded either a Central Bureau of Investigation or Special Investigation Team inquiry. "We have doubts if Swati really committed suicide. Merely hours after judge asked Swati to be presented in court, she died. Were they afraid of what she would say in court? Also we have no belief on the local investigating officers as right from the beginning they have acted illegally, tried to put pressure and separate the couple even though they are both adults and married on their free will."