Sircilla: In a case of honor killing, a young couple was hacked to death on Thursday by the girl's maternal uncles at Balrajpally village in Vemulawada mandal. Vemulawada CI, V. Madhavi, said the accused are on the run. A case has been registered and a manhunt is on for the killers.

Rachana (20) hails from Chandurthi mandal and stayed with their parents Dhammu Lakshman and Vijayalakshmi. After the death of her parents died she was brought up by her three maternal uncles—Sekhar, Ashok and Nagaraju. The trio not only gave her shelter, but also supported her studies right up to her undergraduate education. During Rachana's stay in the village, she fell in love with one Neduri Harish (22) who was her neighbour. The duo assumed that no one would object to their relationship as both hail from the same community, but Rachana’s maternal uncles did not approve of it.

Despite their objection, the couple got married two months ago and lived at Harish's house. The girl's uncles, who were deeply resentful of Rachana’s marriage to Harish, felt that Rachana brought shame and dishonour to the family. The trio then decided to kill the young couple and attacked them at Harish's house on Thursday. Though Harish's mother pleaded for mercy, the miscreants did not spare them. They stabbed the couple repeatedly as a result of which the victims bled to their deaths instantly.

CI Madhavi said that a probe is on and was confident of arresting the culprits soon.