Why have areas like Eastern UP …

There have been varied responses to both cases. Many people have condemned the incidents without any riders. However, there are several others who, in some way, try to justify the violence. While one section is openly casteist, hailing Maruthi Rao, the first accused in Pranay's murder, as a hero, there is another section that is taking refuge in the "parental love" angle to hide their own bigotry.

This latter section typically considers itself "broad-minded" and may issue several disclaimers - of not believing in violence and casteism - before getting into the whataboutery. This section looks at the violence as a consequence of extreme parental grief, arising out of the Dalit men having "deprived" the families of their daughters whom they had "cherished" all these years. Moreover, the women were "too young" to elope and marry someone their families consider unsuitable. Facebook Live streams of many Telugu channels on these two stories are full of comments by people questioning the women for having gone against their parents who had supposedly brought them up lovingly, with many dreams for their future.