Ban term ‘honour killings’, call it ‘caste-based murders’: Dalit activist Kancha Ilaiah

Security personnel had to be posted outside the house in Mutthireddykunta, as emotions ran high and members of Dalit organisations raised slogans and called for unity to fight against caste prejudice. “Caste feeling among the upper castes is rising and becoming extreme. A lower caste man marrying an upper caste woman is seen as a crime punishable by death and upper caste communities not only support the killing of the lower caste man for so-called honour but also condone and justify it. There can be no honour in killing a human being. They kill because they hate the lower castes,’’ S Venkatesh Naik of the Bahujan Left Front (BLF) said, while protesting outside Pranay’s house.

Amrutha Varshini and her in-laws met the Nalgonda district Collector Gaurav Uppal and SPA V Ranganath today and requested that a fast-track court should be set up to take up the murder case of Pranay. “We told them that if Maruthi Rao or his brother Shravan Rao are released on bail, they will use all their influence and money to try and derail the case so it is necessary to bring them to justice quickly. So we requested that the case should be taken up in a fast-track court,’’ said P Balaswami, Pranay’s father. The Collector handed over ex-gratia cheque of Rs 8 lakhs to Amrutha, and has assured that she will be given a job and a house under the state government’s scheme.