Murder in Amaravati is a debut effort by Bangalore-based IT specialist Sharath Komarraju, exposes the underbelly of this country’s social classifications, where exploitation of the hapless is sanctioned and overlooked by those at the top in the hierarchy.
Padmavati was a prostitute, pretty enough to be desired by all the men in the village, including priest Krishna Shastri. In the morning when he opens the Kali temple to perform the long puja in time for sunrise, he sees the body of the young woman carefully laid out to rest at the feet of the goddess.
Only the night before, sarpanch Seetaraamaiah had told him, “Take some rest tomorrow morning, Shastri-gaaru. You can open the temple a little later than usual. Sleep for an extra hour or so.”
Head constable Venkat Reddy, a dalit himself, arrives on the scene, knowing what it is to be subjected to ridicule and disdain, the way the dead woman is being talked about by those gathered at the temple.
Murder in Amaravati
by Sharath Komarraju
Amaryllis
Rs.250