Telangana court hands death penalty to man in honour killing case

Hyderabad, Mar 10 (PTI) A court in Nalgonda district of Telangana on Monday handed death penalty to one of the accused in the honour killing of a Dalit man in 2018.

The court awarded capital punishment to Subhash Kumar Sharma while six other accused were sentenced to life imprisonment, a senior police official told PTI.

The killing of Pranay Kumar (23), who had married an upper caste woman in Nalgonda district in September 2018 had sparked outrage in the state.

According to the prosecution, on September 18, 2018, eight persons, including the woman’s father Maruti Rao and her uncle were arrested, in what turned out to be a case of contract killing of Rs 1 crore.

The arrested included two men, who were acquitted in the murder of former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya.

The woman had accused her father Maruti Rao of being behind her husband's murder.

Maruti Rao, who was opposed to the marriage of his daughter with Pranay Kumar, had conspired with other accused to eliminate his son-in-law. He had also paid an advance of Rs 15 lakh to the hired killers.

Maruti Rao had allegedly died by suicide at a lodge here in 2020. PTI VVK SJR VVK ROH