Inter-caste marriage: Dalit man moves SHRC

HYDERABAD: Fearing for his and his family’s safety, a 30-year-old Dalit PhD scholar has approached the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) after his 19-year-old wife, who is from an upper caste, was reportedly taken away forcibly by her parents to Nalgonda. The man claimed a sub-inspector (SI) and a constable of Gurramapode police station allegedly helped the girl’s family.
The SHRC on Friday directed the Nalgonda superintendent of police to submit a report on the incident by June 29. PhD scholar A Nagarjun, also a private employee, from Penpahad area of Suryapet district, had married Mamtha Reddy, 19, from Gurramapode of Nalgonda district on May 24.
“Four days after our marriage, her parents took her away forcibly with the help of Gurramapode police personnel. The cops told us that a missing complaint was registered and will let us go after recording the statement, but her family instead took her home and threatened me,” Nagarjun told TOI. The couple was taken to the Gurramapode police station for recording their statement on May 28.
In his petition to SHRC, he alleged that the Gurramapode SI and constable mentally harassed them and even asked them to part ways. “They have been threatening my family. We are scared,” Nagarjun said, adding he did not want to become a victim of another honour killing. “I haven’t spoken to my wife since May 28. Her phone is switched off, I don’t know whether she is alive,” he said.
The Nalgonda police denied the allegations. “The girl’s family filed a missing complaint. In her statement, she said she wanted to go back to her parent’s house so she was sent home. The allegations against police officers are false,” Nalgonda DSP Anand Reddy said.