Belli Lalitha (29 April 1974 – 26 May 1999) was an Indian

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

and founder of Telangana Kala Samithi who was murdered in 1999.

Life

She was born in Nancharipet, Motakondur Mandal,

Yadadri Bhuvanagiri Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The administrative headquarters is located at Bhuvanagiri which is also known as Bhongiri. The district shares boundaries with Suryapet, Nalgonda, Jangaon, Siddipet, M ...

district in a Telugu-speaking Kuruma family. She had a brother, Belli Krishna, an activist and a government employee and 5 sisters. She was active in the civil liberties movement and an activist for statehood for

Telangana region Telangana is a state in India situated in the south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh largest state by area and the twelfth most populated state in India, according to the 2011 census. O ...

in the late 1990s. Her father was an Oggu Katha singer and a labourer. She was fighting for the cause of Telangana statehood and was immensely popular in rural areas. She was offered a seat by

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; ) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India. It was founded on 4 October 1992 by former Janata Dal politician Mulayam Singh Yadav and is headquartered in New Delhi. It is the third-largest political party in ...

in 1999 elections from Bhongir constituency before she was killed.

Death

In 1999, she was kidnapped, assaulted, and hacked with an axe to the point her body parts were dismembered into 17 pieces. Her dismembered body parts were then thrown in front of the Choutupoal police station by the assailants. Initially, the then TDP government home minister

Alimineti Madhava Reddy Alimineti Madhava Reddy (28 February 1949 – 7 March 2000) was an Indian politician from the state of Andhra Pradesh. He was elected four times to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Bhongir (Assembly constituency), Bhongir constituen ...

was implicated in the murder but later cleared after further evidence pointed to local Naxalite godfather and kingpin

Mohammed Nayeemuddin Mohammed Nayeemuddin (died 8 August 2016), commonly known as Nayeem, was a naxal leader and alleged criminal. He first gained prominence in 1993 due to his alleged involvement killing of Indian Police Service officer K. S. Vyas. He and his b ...

. Three of her brother-in-laws were also killed, the remaining brother Krishna hiding from 2000 to 2017.

Life

Death

References

Further reading