‘Honour killing' of Dalit youth: Court hands death sentence to Bihar man

Hyderabad: A special court in Telangana’s Nalgonda town on Monday sentenced a hired murderer to death and six others to life imprisonment in the sensational 2018 "honour killing" case.

The SC/ST court handed down the death sentence for Subhash Kumar Sharma, a native of Bihar, for the murder of Dalit youth P. Pranay six years ago.

Pranay, 24, was hacked to death by the hired killer in full public view when he, along with his pregnant wife Amrutha and mother, were coming out of a private hospital in Miryalaguda on September 14, 2018. The sensational murder was caught on CCTV camera and had drawn the national attention.

Pranay had married Amrutha, who belonged to an upper caste, against the wishes of her businessman father Maruthi Rao. The childhood friends were married on January 30, 2018, at an Arya Samaj temple in Hyderabad.

Amrutha's father, who hired killers to murder Pranay, was accused number one in the case. He committed suicide on March 7, 2020, while on bail.

Maruthi Rao was accused of orchestrating the murder by reportedly giving Rs 1 crore to contract killer Subhash Sharma through another accused.

After a six-year-long trial, the court convicted and sentenced Sharma to death. Other convicts Asghar Ali, Abdul Bari, M.A. Karim, Maruthi Rao’s brother Shravan Kumar, auto driver Nizam, and Maruthi Rao’s car driver Shiva have been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Asghar Ali is also an accused in the 2003 killing of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya.

On a complaint by Pranay’s father, P Balaswamy, police had arrested the eight accused under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and murder charges.

On June 12, 2019, police had filed a 1,600-page charge sheet in the trial court.

All accused except Subhash Sharma were granted bail in 2019.

Amrutha, who had been fighting for justice in the case and had vowed never to return to her parents' house, delivered a baby boy in 2019.

IANS