NALGONDA: The State High Court on Friday granted conditional bail to Maruthi Rao, the prime accused in the caste killing of 24-year-old Pranay, a Dalit man, in Miryalguda. Two other accused, namely Shravan (Maruthi Rao’s brother) and Karim, were also granted bail by the court.
Rao — belonging to the upper-caste Vyshya community — along with others, had allegedly murdered Pranay for marrying his daughter Amrutha. He was hacked to death on Sepetember 14, 2018, in broad daylight. The incident was caught on CCTV camera.
Nalgonda police had arrested six persons and had filed cases under the Preventive Detention (PD) Act against them. They were housed in the Warangal Central Prison.
After the bails were issued to the three accused persons during an HC hearing on Friday, Nalgonda district SP-AV Ranganath said that the department would approach the Supreme Court to ensure the cancellation of the same. “The other accused have also applied for bail. We have filed cases under the PD Act against the rest of them for the second time. The accused persons — Asgar Ali, Sharma and Bhari — are dangerous killers. They are currently housed in the Warangal Central Prison,” he said.
Amrutha, who currently resides with Pranay’s parents, said that the release of her father and the co-accused would put her and her family’s lives in danger. “We’re all deeply disappointed by the decision of the High Court. I ask the State government to give security to my family,” she said, while speaking to mediapersons.
Amrutha was pregnant at the time of Pranay’s murder; she delivered a baby boy in January this year. She, along with other Dalit and human rights activists have been fighting to put the persons responsible for the brutal caste killing behind bars for the past couple of months now.