Maruthi Rao, the main accused in the killing of a 23-year-old Dalit man in Telangana, was on Sunday found dead in Hyderabad, The NewsMinute reported. His daughter Amrutha had married Perumalla Pranay against his wishes in 2018.
Rao’s body was found in room number 306 at the Arya Vaishya Bhavan in Khairatabad.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Saifabad, Venu Gopal Reddy, said the identity of the body has been established. “We don’t know other details now, including why he came to Hyderabad,” he added. “The body will most likely be moved to Osmania Hospital shortly.”
The police suspect that the accused may have killed himself. However, more details in the case are awaited.
This came days after a dead body was found in a shed belonging to Rao. Police had said they were informed by locals of a decomposing odour from the shed, located near the Hanumanpet flyover.
Perumalla Pranay was hacked to death on September 14, 2018, in front of his pregnant wife Amrutha, who belongs to an upper-caste family, while they were leaving a hospital in Nalgonda district. The couple had eloped and got married in January as Amrutha’s family was against the relationship. A day after the murder, Amrutha blamed her father for the killing.
Rao was accused of paying Rs 1 crore to a contract killer for the the murder of his son-in-law. The CCTV footage of the incident caused widespread outrage.
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