Telangana: Miryalguda town shuts down over Dalit man’s murder

A shutdown was imposed in Telangana's Miryalguda town on Saturday, September 15 over the murder of a Dalit man in an apparent case of murder, allegedly by his wife’s father. Shops and business establishments remained closed in the town in Nalgonda district, about 150 km from Hyderabad.

Dalit organisations took out rallies, demanding justice for the family of 24-year-old Pranay Kumar, who was hacked to death on Friday as he was coming out of a hospital along with his wife Amrutha Varshini. Pranay was a Dalit Christian from the Mala caste and Amrutha is a caste Hindu from the Vaishya caste. They had eloped and married in January this year.

Amrutha, who is three-months pregnant, alleged to reporters that her father Maruthi Rao is behind the murder. She said he had been tracking their movements. She has been admitted in the hospital as her vital signs were fluctuating.

The police have reportedly arrested Rao, who allegedly hired a killer to murder Pranay. Amrutha's uncle T Shravan was also detained.

CCTV cameras near the hospital captured the gruesome crime. Scanning of CCTV images of the last few days by the police also revealed that the killer had conducted a recce of the area.

On Saturday, police officers visited the couple’s home and started reviewing the CCTV footage from mid-August to the current date. The investigation is still ongoing, was all that officials had to say.

Inputs by NH Web Desk