Justice for Pranay: IT employees organise candlelight vigil against honour killing

A host IT professionals, students and members of some non-profit organisations staged a candlelight vigil against the brutal caste-based killing of 23-year-old

Pranay

Kumar, a

Dalit

boy, at Madhapur Road,

Hitec City

recently.

Holding placards and banners brandishing slogans such as ‘No to hate, no to caste’, ‘Right to live, right to love’, ‘Kulam nashinchali, prema vardhillali’ and ‘Kulam nashinchali, prema vardhillali’, among others, the protesters stood along the road and raised their voices against honour killing peacefully without disturbing the peak-hour traffic.

Organised by the Forum of IT Professionals, over 40 people took part in the demonstration and spread awareness about the dreaded phenomenon. “We are not connected to the departed soul, but we stand here today for the sake of humanity and to end casteism. No law says loving someone from another cast is a crime. Social evils like casteism and honour killing has no place in today’s India,” said Praveen Chandrahas, a member of the forum. Attended by employees of leading IT companies in Hyderabad, the protestors demanded stringent laws against castesim and such heinous crimes.

Bhuvan, one of the protestors, said, “People are spreading a lot of negativity by supporting such crimes on social media and we gathered here to sensitise the people about the issue. We also admire the courage of Pranay’s wife who has come forward and raised her voice against her own father for the alleged murder of her husband.” The protestors also added that a lot more people were supposed to join the vigil but they couldn’t following the unexpected rains and maddening traffic. “We will continue our fight against these social evils and plans are afoot to organise many such vigils across the city in the coming weeks,” said Praveen.