Nearly 78 witnesses were present when Pranay was murdered. 2,367 days later — the city watches, records, and moves on, and a disturbing question lingers — Why is there apathy by the public in the face of such daylight killings?
Hyderabad: Balaswamy Perumalla, the father of a Dalit youth who was slain in broad daylight in 2018, felt a release of long years of tension as his perseverance paid off after an SC/ST Special court in Nalgonda pronounced a historic verdict: Capital punishment for prime assassin Subhash Sharma in the murder of his son Pranay Perumalla, and life imprisonment to six others, on March 10, 2025.
The atrocity against Pranay was orchestrated by his own father-in-law, who had paid Rs.1 crore to get him killed as a result of his disagreement with his daughter’s inter-caste marriage.
“My son was in danger for a long time. A day before the murder, Amrutha had informed her mother that she would be visiting the hospital with Pranay. As we were walking towards the car while returning, we heard a sudden thwack. That shook us. What I saw next — my son being killed indiscriminately until I pushed a monster away from his body — I hope nobody ever sees,” Pranay’s mother Premlatha Perumalla said as she recounted the ill-fated day.
While one side of the SC/ST Special Court's decision to hand down Telangana's first-ever death sentence for a caste-based murder draws a clear line against hate crimes, the other acts as a reminder of the countless lives lost in similar killings.
In a parallel incident that occurred on April 4, 2024, 23-year-old Mohd Khaleel was stabbed to death in full public view by a group of assailants while he was on his way to the Bahadurpura police station with his father and brother, to lodge a complaint against them. “It is beyond my comprehension and imagination. It just took them a moment to take my son’s life away. So many people were present, but nobody came to our rescue. Nobody caught hold of them,” Mohd Mahboob, Khaleel’s father said. The accused were later arrested by the police and remanded.
Nearly 78 witnesses were present when Pranay was murdered. 2,367 days later — the city watches, records, and moves on, and a disturbing question lingers — Why is there apathy by the public in the face of such daylight killings?
Experts attribute this apathy largely to fear, desensitisation and the bystander effect — a psychological phenomenon where individuals are less likely to help when others are present.
A 26-year-old youth allegedly stabbed his father with an eight-inch knife on one of the busiest roads in the city. Apart from the incident, a huge crowd gathering and watching the murder happen was also captured on the CCTV camera. Dr Anita Rayirala, a psychiatrist at the Institute of Mental Health, Erragadda, told the Deccan Chronicle that no public response is usually a mix of a lot of emotions including fear.
“The murderer might be having a sharp weapon and looking at it might be triggering a sense of fear of survival for some of the witnesses. They might feel that taking an action that is against what the murderer wants can also lead them into trouble.”
Dr Vivaswan Boorla, in-charge professor, Institute of Mental Health, said it is the bystander effect that prevents the public from responding or attempting to stop such murders. “Our bodies are made of chemicals and our reactions are purely dependent on the presence and functioning of these chemicals. Anything unconventional, unseen, can cause our brains to go numb. In many cases, bodies go numb. Bystander effect plays a key role in preventing quick responses.”
One such case was on August 29, 2024, where a jilted lover allegedly stabbed a woman 41 times for allegedly ‘ignoring her’ in Gachibowli. In a conversation when the incident had occurred, the Gachibowli police had said, “Her friends were waiting for her upstairs when the murder occurred. During the investigation, one of them told me that they just froze. By the time they realised and rushed downstairs, the accused had fled and the deceased had succumbed to her injuries.”
In addition to the by-stander effect, Dr Vivaswan spoke about how a fading sense of responsibility, and the feeling of being denounced by the society contributes to this apathy. “People no longer feel obligated to act in such situations, presuming somebody else would intervene. Government pressure, inequality and casteism also add to the frustration. This frustration often consumes an individual, compelling them to be preoccupied with their own struggles.”
Most of these murders are filmed by the public. On February 15, 25-year-old Umesh was stabbed indiscriminately by two of his siblings on the Medchal Highway, while bystanders, just 60 metres from the crime spot, filmed it.
Dr Anita commented, “The act of filming such assaults reflects how a part of the public is desensitised by such events. It no longer shocks or disturbs them and so filming such acts may also feel like a cool thing to do for them. There is an overwhelming amount of material on such crimes circulating outside, recording them becomes just another way to participate in the spectacle.”
Pranay’s case not just talks about the gravity and impact of hate crime, but also throws light on a broader societal problem: our indifference to the suffering of others. We must confront our fears, challenge the bystander effect, and encourage a culture of responsibility where individuals take action, not out of expectation, but because it is simply the right thing to do.
Important Information:
March 3, 2025 - 26-year-old computer science graduate stabs his mother in Tellapur in Kollur
February 23, 2025 - Man chased and killed his father in broad daylight near ECIL bus stop
February 17, 2025 - Two teenagers murdered a 25-year old on a National Highway in Medchal
February 6, 2025 - 30-year-old man brutally murdered by unknown assailants in Chandanagar
January 2025 - Auto driver murdered in Hanamkonda
December 4, 2024 - 38-year-old man murdered in broad daylight in Hayathnagar
September 22, 2024 - Fruit vendor killed in Golconda
August 29, 2024 - Woman stabbed 41 times by man for ignoring him in Gachibowli
August 23, 2024 - Engineering student stabbed to death in Balapur
June 19, 2024 - Businessman murdered near Kalapathar police station
June 15, 2024 - 27-year-old murdered on a busy road in Asif Nagar by folks over a past rivalry
June 9, 2024 - Man murdered by folks near Attapur
May 4, 2024 - Maqbool alias Maqbool Ustad, a former Congress leader, was murdered in Rajendranagar
April 16, 2024 - 25-year-old murdered while he was on the way to the police station in Bahadurpura
April 4, 2024 - 18-year-old stabbed by youths in Begumpet
April 3, 2024 - 26-year-old youth murdered in Bahadurpura
