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A 21-year-old tribal woman Rani, who was eight months pregnant, was allegedly killed by her father-in-law, who opposed her marriage to his son. The accused, Sathaiah, reportedly belonged to the Besta (Backward Class) community, and Rani belonged to the Pardhan Scheduled Tribe.
The incident took place at Rani’s parents’ home in Gerri village, Dahegaon mandal, Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district. Sathaiah allegedly hacked her to death with an axe.
Sathaiah was reportedly upset with his son, Shekhar, who works as a driver, for marrying Rani without his consent, The Times of India reported. He had allegedly been insisting that Shekhar leave Rani and marry someone else. Rani and Shekhar had married in October 2024, and she was eight months pregnant when she was killed.
On Friday, October 17, when Rani was alone at home, Sathaiah allegedly struck her on the neck from behind with an axe, killing her on the spot, according to The New Indian Express.
Dahegaon police have registered a case and investigation is ongoing.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s latest data, the number of recorded crimes against STs by non-SCs/ST in Telangana went up from 512 in 2021 to 545 in 2022 and 575 in 2023.
Thirty of these cases from 2023 were registered in Hyderabad. Sixteen of the statewide cases involved murder. Telangana ranked fifth among states with the highest number of atrocities against STs.
For 2023, the chargesheeting rate in Telangana for such cases was 76.4%.