Couple stoned to death for caste defiance
G.S. RADHAKRISHNA
Nizamabad, May 27: A Dalit father of two and his upper-caste lover
were allegedly stoned to death in an Andhra village in a suspected
honour killing case being dubbed the state's first.
The bodies of S. Sunkari Srinivas, 32, and Swapna Reddy, 22, bearing
injury marks caused by stone hits, were found on the outskirts of
Krishnajiwadi village in Nizamabad district last night, police said.
The attackers were alleged relatives of Swapna, who could not accept
her relationship with a married man from a lower caste.
The couple had got married this January in Tirupati, apparently on the
sly, but returned to the village a couple of days back in the hope of
being able to convince their relatives to accept the relationship, the
police said.
According to neighbours, there were a lot of arguments and heated
exchanges at Swapna's home all of yesterday. At one point, the
relatives of the girl dragged the couple out of their house and
allegedly started stoning them as the villagers watched in horror.
"Show no mercy and kill them," one of Swapna's brothers was heard
telling the attackers.
The bodies were found late in the night, dumped on a roadside on the
outskirts of the village. Sub-inspector V. Vijay Kumar confirmed the
bodies bore injuries caused by stone hits and that the couple had died
almost immediately.
Nizamabad police chief K. Venkateshwara Rao said Swapna's relatives
had stoned them to death and that a probe was on. No arrests have been
made so far.
Strangely enough, Srinivas's first wife Padma, 27, appeared to have
accepted his relationship with Swapna. "He had always been a wayward
husband and beat me whenever I asked him (about his affairs)," the
police quoted Padma as saying.
The killings were said to have sparked tension between the Dalits and
upper castes in the village. A police picket has been posted.
Although the incident is possibly a first in Andhra, social tensions
are not new in the state's rural areas, dominated by the land-owing
upper castes such as the Reddys, Kamma and Velamas. Inter-caste
marriages are almost taboo.
Only last week, an inter-caste couple were invited by relatives and
served poisoned sweets in Karimnagar, the police said. The pair
survived as friends were quick to suspect foul play when the two
collapsed and rushed them to hospital.
Earlier, an upper caste groom was beaten unconscious by his relatives
at the wedding venue before his Dalit bride and scores of guests.
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