HYDERABAD: A 39-year-old man was kidnapped and burnt alive at Yerrampally village in Farooqnagar mandal of Rangareddy district, in a suspected honour killing. The incident came to light on Sunday after the victim’s wife identified the charred remains as those of Yerra Rajashekar.
Police suspect the killing was planned by K Venkatesh, father of a 19-year-old woman who had recently eloped with and married 27-year-old Yerra Chandrashekar, the victim’s younger brother. The couple had faced days of tension over their inter-caste marriage; the woman is from a BC community, while Chandrashekar is said to belong to a Scheduled Caste.
According to the family, Venkatesh and his associates arrived at the victim’s home around 10.15 pm on Wednesday. One of them allegedly posed as a constable and asked Rajashekar to accompany them. Rajashekar went with them and did not return.
His wife filed a complaint about 30 minutes later. Police traced his mobile phone initially, but the signal was lost after the device was allegedly discarded near a bypass road.
Police suspect the group took Rajashekar to the outskirts of the village, assaulted him with sticks, poured fuel on him and set him on fire. His body was found on Saturday afternoon after police received information and alerted the family for identification. The remains were sent for postmortem. A case has been registered, and efforts are underway to identify and arrest all those involved.
Rajashekar’s father, Mallesh, said Venkatesh had first opposed the marriage, claiming his daughter was a minor. “On October 9, Venkatesh refused the marriage saying his daughter was underage. A month later, she contacted Chandrashekar, said she was 19 and had proof, and asked him to take her. They went to Nizamabad and got married. Venkatesh believed Rajashekar helped them and held a deep grudge against him,” Mallesh said.