Accused of murder, man brutally killed on tribal village court's order in Andhra Pradesh

PARVATIPURAM MANYAM: A 33-year-old man was allegedly poisoned and then hanged by the neck to death before setting his body ablaze on orders of a tribal village court at Regulaguda village in Seethampeta mandal here.

As many as 16 people have been arrested after the lurid details of the incident became public. The community elders sentenced the man, Savara Singanna, to death for allegedly murdering a sexagenarian on May 27.

According to reports reaching here, Singanna of Vusirikapadu village attended a marriage at Regulaguda, where an argument broke out between him and a woman, Savara Padma. Her father, Savara Gaya (60), intervened and pinned him down.

In a fit of rage, Singanna attacked Gaya with a stick, killing him instantly. Villagers locked up Singanna and informed his family of the incident. They rushed to Regulaguda with their village elders. The village and community elders conducted a 'trial' and ordered to punish Singanna with death.

On the diktat of the panchayat elders, Singanna was forcibly fed rat poison, and since he did not die, he was hanged to death. Later, his body was set on fire. The 'death sentence' was reportedly executed by Singanna’s family members as per the orders of the village elders.

"As per the 'verdict', the family members were directed to kill the man before conducting Gaya’s last rites. Singanna’s family members tried to poison him. However, he did not succumb to it. So, they hanged him to death on May 29," police said.

The final rites of both the men were later held in their respective villages.As word spread, the village secretariat staff learnt about the murders and informed Seethampeta police, who rushed teams to both the villages and launched an investigation. Palakonda DSP Sravani collected evidence in the presence of a local magistrate at the burial ground. 

Speaking to The New Indian Express, she said, "The elders passed the verdict based on the ‘Tala-ku-Tala’ (eye for an eye) justice in the presence of about 300 locals. Singanna’s family members were pressured into killing one of their own."

The DSP noted that the village elders used crude and rudimentary methods to punish Singanna instead of going to the court for justice. 

"We have collected evidence related to Singanna's murder as well as the local court (panchayat) proceedings. We have arrested as many as 16 persons including Singanna's family members, village and community elders, and those involved in both cases," DSP Sravani said. 

A case of murder was registered against Singanna based on a complaint lodged by Savara Gaya’s family and another case, also under murder, was registered in Singanna’s case.

16, including kin, arrested

Verdict was passed based on the ‘Talaku- Tala’ (eye for an eye) justice in the presence of 300 locals. Singanna’s family members were forced to kill one of their own