On April 26, news broke that Maruthi Rao, accused of plotting the murder of Pranay, a 24-year-old Dalit man who married Maruthi’s daughter Amrutha, would be released on bail. It did not take long for a section of people to post celebratory messages hailing Maruthi as a ‘legend’ and as a ‘king’ on social media, condoning his alleged caste crime. And when Amrutha, who runs a Facebook page ‘Justice for Pranay’, called these people out, they descended on the page to slut shame and abuse her.
Since the day her father was released, Amrutha has been posting screenshots and bravely countering people celebrating Maruthi, and Pranay’s death, on the Facebook page. In response, people have been posting vile comments. For instance, one user called Devi Sri Prasad Kurella said, “Jai Maruthi Rao... Amrutha has not grown her maturity yet. She's still in some delusion and talking nonsense. She's thinking that sending her father to jail is some great thing. She will face the curse.” He added, “Now she's again saying that she will go to Supreme Court. Alright that's fine, but teach your son tomorrow not to harass any girl when he's in class 9.”
A rumour has been spread online that Pranay and Amrutha were in a sexual relationship since class 9, and that Maruthi Rao once caught them in the act when they were in school. Soon after Maruthi’s arrest, several people justified his actions claiming that despite the immoral act, he had accepted Amrutha.
After Maruthi Rao was released on a bail on April 28, many openly expressed their support and welcomed him as a ‘legend’, ‘tiger’ and ‘king’. A few have even changed their Facebook profile pictures to Maruthi Rao’s photo.
For instance, Pitta Srinivas Reddy, founder president of Reddy Jagruthi, an organisation working for the welfare of Reddy community, wrote on Facebook, “We welcome the release of legend Maruthi Rao wholeheartedly.” He added, “If there are 10 more Maruthi Raos in the society, there would be fear amongst mischief makers who roam around in the name of love.” In the same Facebook post, he hails Maruthi Rao as a 'Hitler' who strikes fear among daughters who intend marry for love. He also threatens couples saying, “The tiger (Maruthi Rao) has come out of his cage. Those who roam around with lust, beware.”
The Facebook page of Reddy Jagruthi has over 18,000 followers, and many of them have endorsed Srinivas’s views.
Many have also shamed Amrutha’s decision to approach the Supreme Court seeking suspension of Maruthi’s bail. One Facebook user said that she should drop such ideas and return to her father.
In the face of this cyber bullying, Amrutha told media on Wednesday, “I am facing a lot of trolling on social media. They are calling Maruthi Rao a ‘legend’ etc., and are proud of his release. I can’t understand how a murder accused is getting so much of support.”
“I will file a cyber complaint against them,” she added.
This is the second time Amrutha is facing harassment. Earlier too, for a remark that “parents don’t intend to give birth to children, they just want to have sex,” she faced a lot of bullying. She withdrew the remarks after harsh criticism.
However, as the torrent of abuse continued, she filed a cyber complaint against a few of them. A couple of them were arrested for online bullying.
Maruthi Rao was released from Warangal Central Prison on April 28 after the Telangana High Court dropped the Preventive Detention Act invoked against him by the Nalgonda police. Challenging his release, Pranay’s family have decided to approach the Supreme Court.