News, HYDERABAD: In an alleged case of honour killing, a 28-year-old youth was brutally murdered by his wife’s family members at Sachvalayam colony in Vanasthalipuram in the wee hours of Thursday. The couple had an inter-caste marriage.

The Vanasthalipuram police said Lalith Aditya, a native of Guntur district, had been residing at Sachivalaya nagarColony for the past three months along with his wife Sushmitha Reddy, also a native of Guntur.

Sushmitha left home on Wednesday afternoon after a quarrel with her husband. At around 3.30 am, a few persons went to Aditya’s residence at Vanasthalipuram and knocked on the door. As he opened the door, Aditya was dragged out of the house by the assailants. They repeatedly stabbed him with knives on the eye and other sensitive parts, hit him with rods and killed him in the balcony. They left the premises only after confirming that the victim was dead, police said.

Aditya’s family members lodged a complaint against his father-in-law Venkat Reddy and two brothers-in-law. Apart from the family members, some more persons participated in the commissioning of the offence and all the assailants were at large. On Novermber 9, 2015, the couple got married in Eluru against the wishes of Sushmitha’s parents and they went to Gujarat before returning to Hyderabad.

“From the time of the marriage, Venkat Reddy had been threatening to kill Aditya. The couple had always been together without any issues. Venkat Reddy and his family members were hell-bent on killing Aditya and get Sushmitha remarried as they felt it was below their honour to see their daughter marrying a person from a different caste,” Aditya’s brother Hema Aditya told reporters. The accused left the knife and a rod at the scene of the offence.

Assistant commissioner of police (Vanasthalipuram) B Bhaskar said that they have launched a man-hunt to nab the girl’s family members.