Hyderabad: TJAC, TPU demand high-level attention to Dalit's murder

Hyderabad: The Women and Transgender Organisations' Joint Action Committee (WT-JAC) and Telangana for Peace and Unity (TPU) organised a meeting on Tuesday and demanded immediate high-level attention to the brutal murder of dalit youth Nagaraju.

The activists urged Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali to visit Ashrin Sultana, the traumatised wife of Nagaraju, as well as his parents and assure them that the government would fully take care of their safety and future needs.

"The Chief Minister and Home Minister's intervention is also needed to ensure this case is not used by communal forces to disturb peace across the State," they stated.

A member of TPU said, "We also demanded a judicial inquiry into the serious inaction of the police since January, despite having prior information about threats to life of Nagaraju. The government must have immediately begin the process of drafting a law for protecting the rights of inter-faith and inter-caste couples, to be passed by the State Assembly, in consultation with civil society and concerned statutory bodies (including provisions for safety, secure space to stay, livelihood support, financial assistance, medico-legal support).

A WT-JAC member said, "Telangana has been witnessing a steady increase in caste and gendered violence in the past few years. We appeal to the public to maintain communal harmony in the State and not fall prey to divisive elements trying to cash in on this case. This tragic saga is yet another painful reminder to our society that the constitutional right of consenting adults to enter into relationships must be respected beyond the narrow confines of religion, caste and gender."