Seven and a half months ago, 24-year-old Pranay Perumalla was murdered in broad daylight by contract killers who were allegedly paid Rs 1 crore by his wife Amrutha’s father. On Sunday, Amrutha’s father Maruthi Rao walked out on bail along with two other accused in the case, because the police hasn’t managed to file a chargesheet in the case yet. Maruthi Rao – who has become a poster boy for casteists in the two Telugu states since the murder of Pranay – got bail on Saturday after the Telangana High Court quashed the Preventive Detention Case against him.
“We will move the Supreme Court and challenge his bail,” Pranay’s father Balaswamy tells TNM, “We will appeal to the apex court to cancel their bail.”
Pranay, a Dalit man from the Mala community, had married Amrutha – an upper caste woman from the Vyshya community – against her family’s wishes. On September 14 last year, when Pranay and Amrutha were coming out of a hospital post a check-up, Pranay was murdered in broad daylight, allegedly by men who had been contracted by Amrutha’s father Maruthi Rao. Balaswamy, Amrutha, and the rest of Pranay’s family have been fighting for justice for the young man who was murdered while Amrutha was pregnant. Since Pranay’s murder, Amrutha has said that her father wanted her to abort the child, and the family has been living in fear.
While Maruthi Rao, his brother Sravan, and several others were arrested in the case, the police failed to file a chargesheet within the 90-days deadline, after which an accused can be granted bail. And to prevent them from getting bail, they slapped the accused with Preventive Detention (PD) Act.
When a person is charged under PD Act, they cannot be granted bail for a year. And as per the law, a person can be slapped with preventive detention if there is fear that they will act in a manner that threatens public order. By quashing the PD Act against Maruthi Rao and two others in the case, the High Court has pretty much said there is no proveable threat from them if they are released.
“But the threat is obvious to us,” says Balaswamy. Amrutha gave birth to a baby a few months back, and Balaswamy says both she and the baby are at risk of being harmed by Maruthi Rao. “He is liable to face death penalty for his crime in court. So he will obviously try to take our lives, so that no one will fight the case against him,” Balaswamy explains.
The family will now approach the District Superintendent of Police, the Collector and local DySP seeking the protection in view of Maruthi Rao’s bail.
“The fight for justice for Pranay will continue. We will fight legally until Maruthi Rao and all the other accused are punished,” he adds, “Amrutha is with us in this fight and together, we will continue this fight.”
Speaking to local media, Amrutha said that the bail to the accused will encourage the murderers and make them believe they can get away with any sort of crime.
Meanwhile, Maruthi Rao and two other accused, Sravan and Karim, were released from Warangal Central Jail.