Caste and the state: 5 brutally killed, a few forced to end lives

Hyderabad: Five brutal incidents of caste killing marked the year, the most recent being the bride set ablaze by her own parents in Mancherial district. 

The Pranay-Amruta incident at Nalgonda made international headlines and was followed by the despicable sickle attack on Sandeep at Ameerpet.

Ten caste-related cases of unimaginary brutality occurred due to inter-caste marriage in 2018. In five incidents, the family members killed one of the couple and in some they provoked them to committing suicide.

September 14: Boy hacked to death in Nalgonda
Pranay Perumalla Kumar, a dalit from Miryalaguda, was hacked to death in broad daylight for marrying Amrutha Varshini, a Vaishya. Pranay had accompanied his pregnant wife for a check-up at Jyothi hospital in Miryalaguda, when they were leaving at about 1.45 pm, Bari who was hired by Maruthi Rao, the father of the girl attacked him from behind with a machete, killing him.

September 19: Attempt to murder in Erragadda
21-year-old Madhavi and her 23-year-old husband Sandeep were attacked by her father Manoharachary. Sandeep belongs to Scheduled caste and Madhavi was an OBC.  Manoharachary hacked the couple with a sickle near a Hyundai showroom in Erragadda, Hyderabad.

September 20: Dalit man commits suicide, blames in-laws
C. Srikanth, a dalit committed suicide by setting himself ablaze allegedly after recording a video blaming his in-laws for taking away his wife and turning her against him. In the video shot on his mobile phone, he blamed his wife and her father G. Shanmukha Chary and other family members and a police constable for his suicide.

October 1: Boy beaten up by girl’s family
The victim, Nandigottu Saikiran, who is from the Mangali caste, was beaten up by the family members of Haristha, 21, with whom he was in love. The girl is from the Reddy community.

October 7: Girl’s family kill 24-year-old man
G. Kumar, 24, from the Yadava caste was killed by the girl’s family members for allegedly falling in love with a 17-year-old girl who would have turned 18 within a month. She was from the Gouda caste. The body of Gaddi Kumar was found in a cotton field in Vankayalagudem village.

October 31: Woman harassed over dowry, caste
Jayasri, the victim from the SC Madiga community was allegedly harassed over dowry and caste by her husband and in-laws who belongs to Naidu caste. Jayasri had married Gangisetti Karthik, a general physician, in 2015. 

December 23: 22-year-old girl killed in Nirmal
A 22-year-old Anuradha from the Yadava caste was killed for falling in love with and marrying a man from another caste, Laxman, 25, who was from the Padmashali caste. The two were married in an Arya Samaj in Hyderabad on December 3. When they returned to their village Anuradha’s parents Pindi Sathanna and Laxmi and their relatives thrashed the couple, then took the  injured Anuradha into their house and burned her alive and threw the ashes into the water.