Two brutal attacks in the recent past have shaken Telangana. 24-year-old Perumalla Pranay was hacked to death in front of his pregnant wife, Amrutha, in Miryalguda town in Nalgonda district on September 14 this year, when the couple was coming out of a private hospital following a health check-up with a gynaecologist.
Even as the murder was fresh in the minds of the people, another attack shook the state, this time in the heart of Hyderabad. Madhavi, an OBC woman, was attacked by her own father, Manoharachari, for marrying Sandeep, a Dalit man. Both attacks are very similar to another caste crime. In 2016, Sankar, a Dalit man, was murdered by his wife Gowsalya’s family.
In the context of these attacks, anti-caste activists in the state have been demanding for a separate law to address violence against inter-caste couples.
There has been a demand for a separate law for a while now. The Law Commission in a report in 2012 told the government that there was a need for a law to tackle ‘honour crimes’. Six years on, the Central government is yet to act on the report.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court upheld the right of adults to choose their own life partner, and said that the family or community cannot interfere in this matter. Following this order, State Governments were told to create Special Cells in every District to receive complaints of harassment and threat to couples of inter-caste marriage. These Special Cells were also ordered to create a 24-hour helpline to receive and register such complaints and to provide necessary assistance, advice and protection to the couple. However, Telangana has no such cell so far.
Activists also point out that the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act doesn't address inter-caste marriages and only deals with abuses and assaults on Dalits. They also argued that it was the government’s responsibility to ensure protection to inter-caste couples.
Watch the video below.