Mancherial: Proving yet again the curse of caste, the parents of 22-year-old Anuradha killed her for falling in love with and marrying a man from another caste, Laxman, 25. The two were married in an Arya Samaj ceremony in Hyderabad on December 3.
Anuradha’s parents Pindi Sathanna and Laxmi and their relatives thrashed the couple when they came to the village. They then took an injured Anuradha into their house and killed her.
Anuradha was training to be a teacher and Laxman was studying for a BTech degree in Hyderabad. He belongs to the Padmashali community and Anuradha to the Yadava community. Both were adults who could lawfully marry anyone they chose.
The newly married couple had sought the protection of the Jannaram police on December 22. They came to Jannaram from Hyderabad before going to their native village Kalamadugu in Dandepalli mandal in Mancherial.
The family tried to eliminate any trace of the murder by burning the body and throwing the ashes into a river.
Laxman lodged a complaint with the police on Sunday. Police started an investigation which led to the parents being accused of the barbarous act of murdering their own daughter because she had married a man from another caste.
Meanwhile, a video which purportedly shows Anuradha saying that she wanted to live with Laxman, and that her parents will be responsible if anything happens to him or her, has gone viral.
It may be recalled that a murder for similar reasons had occurred in Nalgonda earlier this year when Amrutha was killed for marrying Pranay from another caste.
Mancherial Assistant Commissioner of Police P. Gouse Baba and DCP Venugopala Rao, CI Srinivas and SI Thahasoddin visited the village of Kalamadugu and personally inspected the site of the murder and took the accused into custody.
This is the second instance in recent times of caste-related killings within the Backward Classes community. Anuradha belonged to the Yadava community and Laxman to the Padmashali community. It highlights that communities within the BC grouping are not willing to inter-marry between the castes.
A senior BC leader of Adilabad said the incident exposed the lack of ideological base among the BC communities and posed a challenge to community representatives who talk about unity among the BCs to achieve political power.
“It is clear that before BCs achieve political power, they have to achieve social unity,” he said.
