Caste killing: Parents suffocate pregnant daughter with pillow
JOGULAMBA GADWAL: In a gruesome incident of caste killing, a second-year degree student, who was pregnant with her boyfriend’s baby, was suffocated to death by her parents in her sleep at Kalukuntla village in Gadwal district two days ago.
T Divya was pursuing her Bachelor’s course in Kurnool, when she fell in love with a man who did not belong to her caste. She recently returned home due to the lockdown and began exhibiting symptoms of pregnancy. Her parents got her tested, confirming the pregnancy. Despite their efforts to get the foetus aborted, she stood her ground and said she wanted to marry her boyfriend.
Speaking to Express, Shanti Nagar CI J Venkateshwarlu said Divya was the youngest among accused Bhaskaraiah Shetty’s three daughters. Ever since they got to know that Divya was pregnant, they had kept her locked inside a room at night, fearing she would run away with her boyfriend.
Infuriated by her determination, Bhaskaraiah and his wife stepped into her room while she was asleep on Saturday night and smothered her with a pillow. In a bid to make it seem like she died of an illness, they took her to the nearest hospital. In fact, the rest of the family thought she had died of an ailment.
However, the panchayat secretary of the village, who grew suspicious of the matter, lodged a complaint with the Shanti Nagar police. Taking cognisance of the complaint, they shifted Divya’ body for post-mortem examination to Alampur Government Hospital on Sunday. Here, it was found that she was suffocated to death.
On Monday morning, upon interrogation, Divya’s parents confessed to their daughter’s murder. They were charged with the crime and were sent on judicial remand.