False: A Hindu man was stabbed to death by his Muslim wife's family members in Telangana.

By: Anurag Baruah
March 7 2023

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Context

On March 1, 2023, a DJ sound system operator named Devarakonda Harish Kumar was hacked to death in an alleged "honor killing" case in Doolapally village of Telangana. According to a March 6 report by The Indian Express, ten of the 11 accused have been arrested. The report added that the victim and his partner, Manisha, had eloped on February 22, and later Manisha's brother B Deendayal conspired to kill Kumar and led the attack.

Amid this, multiple social media posts have gone viral, falsely claiming the case has a communal angle and is one of Hindu-Muslim animosity since the deceased was Hindu, whereas his wife was Muslim. These narratives claim the wife's family members hacked the husband to death. A verified Twitter account, The Jaipur Dialogues, which has around 166,000 followers, posted such a claim. The particular Tweet read, "A hindu man DJ Deverakonda Harish (28), brutally stabbed to death by his Muslim Wife's family member after 10 days of inter-faith marriage. NYT times would call this Religious Extremism of Hindus who incited violence in the minority community" and has more than 45,000 views so far. 

We also came across other versions of this claim. Right-wing propaganda news outlet OpIndia published a report on this incident in Hindi, which has garnered massive engagement. We also found an English article published on the Sanatan Prabhat website with the headline, "A Hindu youth who married a Muslim girl, killed by the girl's brothers in Hyderabad, Telangana!" 

However, the deceased and the woman belonged to the same community, and a false communal spin is being spread.

In Fact

Logically contacted Gouri Prashanth, the Station House Officer (SHO) of the station where the murder case has been registered. The SHO clarified there was no communal angle in the incident and confirmed that the deceased and his partner belonged to the same community. They were "not Muslims" and were "not even married," he further stated.  

According to a report by The Indian Express published on March 6, 2023, Harish and Manisha belonged to a backward community, and Harish was a Dalit. A report by The News Minute also confirmed this. The Indian Express report stated that the woman's brother, Deendayal, felt that the "family's image was tarnished" because of the relationship between Harish and Manisha, according to the police, and termed it a case of "honor killing." A report by The Indian Express published on March 4, 2023, also confirmed that the police had stated that the deceased and his partner, Manisha, belonged to the same community.

Logically has earlier debunked similar claims when attempts were made to give a communal spin to incidents in India. 

The Verdict

The SHO of the local police station confirmed to Logically that the deceased Kumar, and his partner Manisha, hail from the same religious community and were not married. The claim about a Hindu man being stabbed to death by his Muslim wife's family members has been falsely shared to claim that it is an incident of Hindu-Muslim animosity and to cause communal tension. Therefore, we are marking the claim as false.