Telangana honour killing turns into statue war

The honour killing of a Scheduled Caste youth, Pranay Perumalla, has turned into a full-blown caste war in the town of Miryalaguda of Telangana with Pranay’s upper caste wife Amrutha and several SC organisations deciding to erect a statue of the slain man in the town.

The statue is proposed at the centre of the affluent business town, known as ‘Shakuntala Theatre Centre’ or ‘Telangana Chowrasta’. A few people even started to raise a concrete pedestal in the middle of the road to place the statue. Amrutha wanted the statue to serve as a grim reminder to parents, who prefer to kill than let live couples in love.

However, non-SC castes formed a “Parents Association” and are mounting pressure on the local administration against granting permission for the statue. They argue that it is a clash between two families and there is no community involvement in the issue. The Association even decried the murder of Pranay by hired assassins.

Chilukuri Shyam, an advocate and BJP leader in Miryalaguda town, said that the family is free to erect a statue on their property but not in a public place. It sends wrong signals to the next generation,” Shyam said. The police, revenue, municipal and roads and buildings departments are in principle not ready to accord permission, fearing a backlash.

Miryalaguda municipal commissioner C Satya Babu told reporters that he has received an application from representatives of Pranay's family for permission to erect a statue. “We will forward it to the government for a decision," he said.

On the contrary, SC organisations, which have taken the onus of fulfilling Amrutha’s desire, are busy making arrangements for the erection of the statue. Social media is vertically divided on the issue.