Maharashtra: Dalit man killed by in-laws from OBC community, wife says parents warned of Sairat-like revenge

A 25-year-old Dalit man was allegedly murdered in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad by in-laws from the Other Backward Classes community who opposed his marriage to their 18-year-old daughter.

Amit Murlidhar Salunkhe, who was attacked with sharp instruments on July 14 by his father-in-law and his wife’s brother, He died in hospital on 25 July.

His funeral was held on 26 July after the deceased’s relatives and Dalits in the region, who mobbed a local police station, were promised the culprit would be arrested immediately.

Vidya Kirtishahi, deceased’s wife, reportedly told the police that her parents had cited the plot of the popular Marathi-language film Sairat while warning her against the marriage, Indian Express reported.

The 2016 movie tells the story of an upper-caste Hindu girl who falls in love with and eventually marries a Dalit boy. They are hacked to death by members of the girl’s family.

“My parents wanted to forcibly marry me off to someone else. They had taken Rs 4 lakh from that youth, but that marriage was not acceptable to me. I married Amit with each other’s consent. We married as per our religious customs. Initially the families did not accept us. After marriage, my family threatened me that they would do our ‘Sairat’,” Kirtishahi told the police, according to The Indian Express.

While Kirtishahi’s 35-year-old cousin has been arrested in the case, her 52-year-old father has secured anticipatory bail.

”One person, Appasaheb Ashok Kirtishahi (35), has been arrested in this case. He is a close relative. The girl’s father Geetaram Bhaskar Kirtishahi (52) had secured interim anticipatory bail… We will be appealing in the Bombay High Court to get his bail cancelled,” the newspaper quoted Deputy Commissioner of Police Navneet Kumar Kavat as saying.

Courtesy : Maktoob Media

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