The suspicious death of a Dalit youth in Khanapur village, situated in Telangana's Peddapalli district, has triggered off a controversy, with locals alleging that it was a murder. 25-year-old Manthani Madhukar was reportedly found dead on March 14, at the outskirts of Khanapur, under suspicious conditions.
Several pictures and a video of Madhukar, with injuries on his private parts have since gone viral on social media.
According to a report in The New Indian Express, Madhukar, a native of Kathalapur and a Dalit, was in a relationship with a girl from Venkatapur. The duo wanted to get married, but their parents rejected their proposal, as they belonged to different castes. Two days later, Madhukar was found dead with multiple injures near a canal.
The Manthani police registered a case of suspicious death on March 25, and said that they were investigating the matter.
Since then, Dalit organisations have claimed that the 'murder' was an 'honour killing', alleging that the victim was brutally murdered for his affair with an upper caste girl.
Several organisations like the DLF, DSU, TAYS and AISF conducted a joint fact finding investigation into the murder.
The fact-finding committee held that TRS MLA Putta Madhu and a police officer Prabhakar were involved in the murder, and demanded that they be arrested under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.
The organisation also claimed that relatives of the girl, and the village Sarpanch also conspired to murder Madhukar.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has reportedly demanded a re-post-mortem of the body to to determine if it is a murder or a suicide.
According to The Hindu, a team from the Human Rights Forum and another team on behalf of CPI(M) would soon go to Manthani on a fact finding mission.