Six days after the brutal killing caste killing of Pranay, a Dalit Christian in Telangana, the state government has responded and announced compensation for the victim’s family and assured a job to Amrutha, the deceased's wife.
Telangana SC Development Minister G Jagadish Reddy visited Miryalaguda in Nalgonda district on Thursday and met Pranay's family to express his condolences.
He was accompanied by Thungathurthy MLA Gadari Kishore and Rajya Sabha member Badugula Lingaiah Yadav, besides Superintendent of Police AV Ranganath and District Collector Gaurav Uppal.
Speaking to reporters, the Minister said that he was ashamed that such incidents were still taking place in this day and age, adding that strict action would be taken against the accused in the case.
"A government job would be provided to Amrutha Varshini, Pranay’s wife. Also, agricultural land and a double-bedroom house would be allocated to his family," the Minister was quoted as saying.
He also told reporters that the government had sanctioned Rs 8.25 lakh towards the immediate expenses of Pranay’s family members, while personally handing over a cheque for Rs 4.12 lakh to Amrutha.
The state government's response comes after opposition parties questioned its silence for days. Besides a tweet from Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao, there was no response from politicians in the state government for the first few days after the murder.
There was no statement from Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's either, even as his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu spoke about the issue in his state's Assembly.
Pranay Kumar was hacked to death on September 14 when he was coming out of a hospital with his wife Amrutha Varshini, with whom he had an inter-caste marriage in January this year, against the wishes of her parents. Police have arrested seven accused including the woman's father Maruthi Rao, who had struck Rs.1 crore deal for the contract killing.
According to the police, Maruthi Rao hatched the plot to eliminate Pranay with the help of Asgar Ali, Bari and Abdul Karim. Maruthi Rao's brother T. Shravan and driver S. Shiva are the other accused.
The police chief said the conspiracy was hatched in July. The deal was struck for Rs 1 crore though Asgar and Bari had demanded Rs 2.5 crore. Maruthi Rao had paid Rs 16 lakh as advance.
Meanwhile, the accused were presented at a local court and sent to remand.