Delivering the verdict in the 2018 caste killing of Pranay Perumalla, the Nalgonda SC and ST Sessions court on March 10 sentenced the second accused, contract killer Subhash Sharma, to death. The main accused, Pranay’s wife Amrutha’s father Maruthi Rao, died by suicide in March 2020. Six other convicts in the case have been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Pranay, a 24-year-old Dalit Christian from the Mala community, was hacked to death with a machete in broad daylight in Miryalguda on September 14, 2018, for marrying Amrutha Varshini, who belongs to the dominant Vaishya caste. Pranay was killed as he was coming out of a hospital with Amrutha, who was five months pregnant at the time, and his mother. The brutal crime was captured on CCTV cameras.
Following the murder, the police arrested Maruthi Rao and five others including Maruthi Rao’s brother Sravan Kumar, his driver Samudrala Shiva, contract killer Subhash Sharma, Azgar Ali, Md Abdul Bari, and Abdul Kareem. Maruthi Rao was accused of paying Rs 1 crore to the contract killers.
Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Darshan Narasimha said, “Since A2 Subhash Sharma murdered Pranay brutally, mercilessly in broad daylight, considering the gravity of the crime, the court has sentenced him to death… We hope this verdict brings about a change in society.”