Assassin in honour killing gets death sentence
Six others who were involved in contract killing deal get life imprisonment
Nalgonda: The SC/ST Special Court of Nalgonda on Monday awarded capital punishment to Subash Sharma, a hired assassin, in the honour killing of Dalit youth Perumalla Pranay Kumar in Miryalaguda in 2018. The court sentenced six other accused, among them a convict in the murder of Gujarat former minister Haren Pandya, to life imprisonment. Prime accused T. Maruthi Rao, who ordered a Rs.1 crore contract for the murder, has died by suicide.
The murder of Pranay, which was orchestrated by the father of his wife, who came from an upper caste, had sparked outrage in the state.
Pranay was hacked to death by Subash Sharma, a Bihar native and second accused in the case, on September 14, 2018, when the victim had taken his pregnant wife to a hospital in Miryalaguda for a medical check-up. The incident, captured on the hospital’s CCTV footage, served as critical evidence during the trial.
Pranay and Amrutha got married in January 2018. She had accused her father Maruti Rao of being behind her husband's murder.
The prime accused, T. Maruthi Rao, Amrutha’s father, died by suicide in a room of Arya Vysya Bhavan in Hyderabad in 2020. He had offered a Rs.1 crore contract for killing his son-in-law.
Those sentenced to life imprisonment include Azgar Ali, 40, (previously convicted in former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya's murder), Mohammed Abdul Bari, 38, (who brokered the murder deal), T. Sravan Kumar, 55, (Maruthi Rao’s brother), K. Shiva, 31, (Maruthi Rao’s driver), and Sk Nizam, 31, (who informed the assassin about Pranay’s whereabouts).
Given the gravity and complexity of the case, police filed a detailed 1,600-page chargesheet supported by scientific evidence, presented testimonies from 78 witnesses, submitted 293 exhibits, including forensic reports and CCTV footage, and 71 physical pieces of evidence, such as the murder weapon.
The SC/ST Special Court's judgment, running into 532 pages, dismissed the accused's objections regarding caste verification based on a pastor's presence at Pranay’s funeral.
Speaking to media persons after the verdict, public prosecutor Darshanam Narsimha emphasised the crucial roles of CCTV footage and the testimony of Pranay’s mother, Premalatha, in establishing the guilt of the accused. He also highlighted the significant contribution of technical evidence in securing convictions.
Pranay's parents told media on Monday that the verdict in the case should be an eye-opener to all those who have caste-based idiosyncrasies and resort to violence.
