GUNTUR: Almost 24 hours after the spine-chilling murder of 25-year-old Pachala Deepthi , the accused parents are said to have surrendered before the Pattabhipuram police here on Monday and even admitted to having choked their elder daughter to death in a fit of anger. According to sources, the couple, Haribabu and Samrajyam, claimed that the killing was not premeditated. The police, however, refused to confirm the duo’s surrender officially.

“The father has confessed that they only wanted to counsel Deepthi and prevail upon her to annul the marriage. That is why they took her home. The murder was an accident after an argument broke out in the family because the girl was adamant about staying wedded,” said a source in the know of things. That it was a case of honour killing is, however, now amply clear.

Turns out that the love-struck techie, who worked with HCL Technologies in Hyderabad, belonged to the politically-dominant kamma community while her husband of only two days, A Kiran Kumar was a kapu. In terms of assets though, Kiran Kumar’s family is way more endowed.

But while this ancient battle for supremacy between the two communities, which was at one time unabashedly on display across Andhra Pradesh, has considerably ebbed over the years, it has failed to reform those like the deceased’s parents. Predictably, as sources pointed out, the two were worried about Deepthi’s alliance with Kiran casting its shadow over the wedding prospects of her younger sister Sruthi, an employee with a bank in Nellore.

“The parents are also believed to have threatened to commit suicide if she did not relent to save the ‘honour’ of the family,” a source said, adding, “This turned into a heated argument following which the parents strangulated her. When they realized she was dead, they wrapped a dupatta around her neck and put her corpse on the bed before fleeing the house.”

This "accident" theory, however, has failed to amuse the victim’s husband who insisted that the murder was pre-planned. According to Kiran, the family hurriedly arrived in Hyderabad on Saturday with the sole intention of killing her once back in Guntur.

Caste equations

As has been reported, the couple, after a two-year-long wait for consent from Deepthi’s parents, finally tied the knot at Arya Samaj in Hyderabad over the weekend. The ceremony was attended by friends, colleagues and MNC employee Kiran’s parents.

Now, with the shocking death of their just-wedded daughter-in-law, they have been enveloped in a pall of gloom. “We treated Deepthi like our own daughter. My wife was trying her best to ensure that she did not miss her parents after marriage. It is shocking to know that the innocent girl was murdered,” said Nagasatyanarayana, Kiran’s father. They were informed about the affair six months ago.

Members of the Kamma community are equally startled. Especially because they thought that the long-time rivals had, by now, consensually buried the hatchet. “We are active members of the community but have never raised objection about our kin willing to marry outside our caste. The parents have disgraced us by not understanding and accepting the wish of their daughter,” said local Kamma leader Guduru Venkateswara Rao.

That this disturbing incident has come just before an important election is also something community leaders cannot overlook. Analysts observe that the murder could well create ripples within the political class now. “In recent times, there has been a huge influx of kapu leaders into the kamma-dominated Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which is banking on kapu votes to come to the power in the Seemandhra region. A clash between the two communities at this time could well undermine the electoral fortunes of many TDP leaders,” an analyst explained.

Meanwhile, Deepthi’s body was handed over to her husband after post-mortem. Her last rites were performed in Guntur in the presence of members of both families.