Hyderabad: The case of “honour killing” by an upper caste landlord in Telangana continues to take new twists and turns everyday as the way police handled the case from day one has come under cloud.
A special team of Rachakonda Police Commissioner successfully cracked the case of missing Dalit youth Amboji Naresh by arresting his father-in-law T Srinivas Reddy and his nephew Satti Reddy of Lingarajpalli village near Bhongir in Yadadri district.
Police have booked a case of murder against the Reddy duo after they confessed murdering Naresh, burning his body in their field and throwing away the ashes and remnants of the body in river Musi nearby. The accused also revealed they damaged and threw away victim’s mobile phone near Moula Ali Railway Station in Hyderabad.
The love story of a Dalit boy Naresh and his classmate Swati from Upper caste Reddy family ended in tragedy with the father-in-law killing Naresh, and the girl allegedly committing suicide on May 17.
The two had fallen in love while studying in a college at Velligonda. But the girl’s father rejected the proposal over caste issues. The couple eloped to Mumbai and got married in a court there on March 25.
But the girl’s father, using his clout with the police, forced them to return to the village where Naresh was murdered and Swati allegedly committed suicide.
However, senior police officials are now suspecting that Swati may have also been murdered as there were lots of inconsistencies in the story and the way the area police station at Atmakur village handled the case.
After Swati’s body was found hanging on May 17 in the bathroom of her home, her father claimed that she did not leave any suicide note behind. But later when he was questioned in the police station he claimed that she left a suicide note behind alleging harassment by Naresh’s family for dowry. He also claimed that she also left a video recorded message talking about harassment by he in-laws. Police sources say they suspect that Swati was forced to record the statement before she died.
Threatening call
The role of the inspectors and sub-inspectors of Ramannapet and Bhongir police station were also under the scanner as an audio clip of telephonic conversation between Swati and Bhongir Sub Inspector (SI) has emerged. At the time Naresh and Swati were hiding in Mumbai, the SI contacted her over phone to ask her to return home as there was a complaint that she was abducted by Naresh and may have been killed. Even after she insisted that she had legally married Naresh, the SI could be heard talking in a threatening manner forcing to return.
Consequently Naresh and Swati returned to Bhongir on May 2 where at the police station Ramannapet inspector N Srinivas handed over Swati to her father. While the local police say they sent back Naresh to his home, it turned out that Srinivas Reddy and his nephew abducted him the same night and killed him.
Naresh’s family had lodged a missing complaint with the police the following day but things did not move till the High court directed the Rachakonda Commissioner to investigate the case.
“The police had colluded with Srinivas Reddy who is a rich and influential person,” said Naresh’s father Venkataiah.
The brutal murder in the name of the caste and honour has sparked off protests. Naresh’s family members along with several civil society organisations representing Dalits, Backward Classes and tribals held a protest demonstration in Bhongir. They also demanded action against the Ramannapet police inspector N Srinivas, Bhongir police inspector Shankar Goud and Atmakur sub inspector Shiva Nagendra Prasad for their collusion with the accused.
The state CPI secretary Chada Venkat Reddy demanded a high-level investigation into the whole of episode including the role of the police.
