Hyderabad: Amruthavarshini, a young upper caste woman whose husband was hacked to death in a shocking honour killing case last year, has given birth at an undisclosed location on her first wedding anniversary on January 24. The family has sought police protection for the mother and child.
Amruthavarshini, whose husband Perumalla Pranay Kumar was killed by her relatives, delivered a baby boy the other day.
Both the mother and child are keeping well, said Pranay’s father Balaswami. But he refrained from revealing whether they feared another attack.
The killing of Pranay, a Dalit Christian, who had married Amruthavarshini belonging to an upper caste at Miryalguda in Nalgonda district of Telangana on September 14 had sparked an outrage in the state.
Amrutha's father Maruti Rao, who she had accused of being behind her husband's murder along with her uncle Shravan, was among those arrested in what turned out to be a case of Rs 1 crore contract killing.
Seven persons were arrested for the honour killing in Telangana's Nalgonda district.
Maruti Rao, who was opposed to the marriage, conspired with other accused to eliminate Pranay and also paid an advance amount of Rs 15 lakh.
According to media reports, the gang hired for the murder is believed to have links to Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
Shocking CCTV footage of the incident showed Pranay walking out of a hospital in Miryalguda with his pregnant wife when the assailant, who was later identified as Subhash Kumar Sharma, paced up and attacked him with a machete from behind, killing him on the spot.
Amrutha, from 'Vaishya' community, had claimed her father and uncle were behind the attack as they strongly disapproved of her marrying a Dalit Christian.
Sharma was apprehended from Samastipur in Bihar.
Pranay and Amrutha, who were in love since their school days, got married in January 2018. Media reports stated that in May, Pranay's parents organised a wedding reception for the couple and photos of the function posted by Amrutha on social media had infuriated her father.
The hired killers had conducted recce at different places before executing their plan on September 14, 2018, police said.
The incident had triggered protests by some Dalit groups in Nalgonda.
Amrutha, who claimed her father insisted on her ending the marriage, had earlier stated that she would give birth to Pranay's child and ensure justice is done to him. She had also refused to return to her paternal home.
Rao had joined the TRS, while another accused Abdul Kareem, a transport operator, is a local Congress leader.