Cinema-style honour killing in Telangana: Youth chased, hacked to death on his birthday

 Muppirithota village in north Telangana will never forget the gruesome birthday celebrations that took place on Thursday night. What happened in the village looked like a climax scene straight out of a South Indian action movie. It was a love story which ended with an honour killing.

Sai Kumar, a school dropout, was allegedly in a relationship with a girl from the same village. The girl’s father, Saraiah, and her family members were aware of the couple’s feelings for each other and had asked them to break ties. However, the due continued to meet, much against the wishes of the family.

On Thursday, Sai Kumar attempted to meet the girl and later assembled near a temple on the village outskirts to celebrate his birthday with friends. According to villagers, Sai Kumar met different groups of friends and cut multiple cakes and the celebrations went on till late evening.

Saraiah was informed by some villagers of Sai Kumar’s whereabouts. Saraiah, a shepherd by occupation, is known to carry a small axe attached to one side of his bike. He reached the location where Sai Kumar and his friends were present. He immediately got off the vehicle and took out the axe and struck Sai Kumar on the neck. At this point, four to five of his friends fled from the spot as Sai Kumar tried to escape with bleeding injuries.

Saraiah got back on his bike and chased Sai Kumar, attacking him once again with the axe resulting in fatal injuries. Some of Sai Kumar’s friends gathered there and tried to shield him from Saraiah, who later fled the scene.

Sai Kumar passed away despite being rushed to the hospital due to the severity of his injuries. Since the victim as well as the accused belong to two different castes, the police have stepped up security in the village to ensure peace.

The grieving family members of Sai Kumar said they had been receiving threats from the girl’s family for some time now. The police have taken the accused into custody, and further investigations are on to check if the accused had any accomplices.