Shutdown in Telangana town over Dalit man's killing

A shutdown was imposed in Telangana's Miryalguda town on Saturday over the murder of a Dalit man in an apparent case of honour killing.

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 23-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, with whom he had an inter-caste marriage six months ago.

They were in love since their school days and had married against the wishes of the girl's parents. Since then, he was facing threats to his life, according to informed sources.

Amrutha, who is five-months pregnant, told reporters that her father Maruthi Rao is behind the murder. She said he had been tracking their movements.

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.

--IANS

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