Pranay and Arutha's marriage was objected to by both sets of parents on the basis of their caste
Highlights
- The murder of Pranay Kumar was captured on a CCTV footage
- Pranay's wife Amrutha told police she suspected her father and uncle
- Soon, protests erupted demanding justice for the 23-year-old man
A young man who was walking out of a hospital in Telangana with his pregnant wife was hacked to death in a suspected case of dishonour killing over their inter-caste marriage.
The murder was captured in chilling CCTV footage that showed Pranay Kumar, 23, leaving the hospital in Nalgonda district, along with his wife, when a man suddenly attacked him from behind with a machete, killing him.
Protests erupted in Nalgonda on Saturday after Pranay's brutal murder. Demonstrators called for a shutdown in Miryalguda town to demand justice for the couple.
Amrutha, 21, fainted due to shock on seeing her husband murdered and was rushed to hospital. She later told police that she suspected the murder to have been arranged by her father and uncle, as they had opposed her marriage because her husband was from a different caste and wanted her to have an abortion.
Pranay Kumar was hacked to death while he was walking out of a hospital with his pregnant wife.
"I have no intention of aborting my baby. Pranay's baby is my future," she said, breaking down. "Pranay was such a nice person. He looked after me so well, especially after I became pregnant. I don't know why caste is so important in this time and age," she added.
The girl's father Maruti Rao, a businessman, and her uncle Shravan have been named as the main accused in the case. Both the men have been arrested.
The young couple had married just eight months ago after falling in love in school and having been in a relationship since their college days. But both their families opposed the marriage when they found out. Pranay belonged to the Madiga Scheduled Caste whereas Amrutha was from the Vysya caste.
But Pranay's parents finally gave in to the wedding after he told them that he would only live with her.
His murder shocked the community and sparked protests by organisations working for the welfare of Scheduled Castes. Shops and other business establishments remained shut.
The 23-year-old man's murder in Nalgonda comes over two years after a similar incident in Tamil Nadu. In March 2016, 22-year-old Sankar was hacked to death in front of his wife Kaushalya in Tiruppur. The girl's father and several other relatives were convicted in the case.