Adam Smith murder: Andhra police arrest father and uncle of Dalit man’s wife

A day after the brutal murder of 30-year-old Adam Smith, a Dalit Christian, for marrying Maheshwari, who belongs to a different caste, the Adoni police have arrested her father Chinna Veeranna  and uncle  Pedda Veeranna. The two accused have been sent to remand, police said. They were booked under Section 302 (Murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. 

However, the victim’s family and his wife are unhappy with the police. They say that justice will be absolute only if others involved in the caste-killing are also punished. The family allege that besides Chinna Veeranna and Pedda Veranna, their relatives were also part of the plot to eliminate Adam.

“The locals who witnessed the murder told us that there were three others who were part of the attack. The case has to be investigated thoroughly and all those involved in this should be arrested,” alleged Madhu Babu, Adam’s brother to TNM. Madhu also alleged that in one phone conversation between Maheshwari’s parents and Adam, many of their relatives joined the call and threatened to kill him.

A grieving Maheshwari said, “These two people don’t have such courage to carry out this heinous act on their own. They were definitely many of my relatives behind this. I want each and everyone of them to be punished.”

At noon on Thursday, Adam, working as a physiotherapist at a nursing home in Kurnool district, was attacked with metal pipes and later killed with a boulder while he was riding his two-wheeler on his way home.

The accused allegedly confessed to the police that they felt “humiliated” that Maheshwari married a man from the Dalit community. “When everyone in the village kept questioning them [about the marriage] they felt humiliated and wanted to make amends,” said Sub Divisional Police Officer, Adoni, Vinod Kumar.

Both Adam and Maheshwari are natives of Gurazala village in Nandavaram mandal, Kurnool. After marriage, they shifted to Adoni town fearing a threat to their lives. While Adam belongs to Madiga community, categorized as Scheduled Caste, Maheshwari is from Kuruba community, recognized as Backward Class community. 

Adam and Maheshwari got married on November 12 in Hyderabad in a Hindu ritual at Arya Samaj. The couple had sought the protection of police fearing attacks. But the attempts to counsel the parents turned futile. 

Adam’s family feel let down by the police following the incident. “In front of the Circle Inspector, during counselling, my parents threatened to kill Adam,” alleged Maheshwari.