Shock as man killed in front of his pregnant wife

A man has been hacked to death in a suspected 'honour killing' in India after marrying a woman from a higher caste.

Pranay Kumar, 24, was murdered in front of his pregnant wife Amrutha Varshini, 23, in broad daylight just nine months after their wedding.

The incident happened when the couple were coming out of Jyothi Hospital in Miryalguda town, 150km from Hyderabad, on September 14.

Pranay Kumar and his wife. [Courtesy]

A man, who has yet to be identified, is seen on CCTV as he attacked Pranay with a machete from behind and started hitting him on the neck.

He collapsed on the ground and the man kept attacking him as Amrutha tried to stop the assault on her husband.

The man is seen throwing the machete to one side before fleeing the scene.

Amrutha ran into the hospital to try and get help for her husband but he succumbed to his injuries.

Amrutha claims her father and uncle had something to do with her husband's death. [Courtesy]

Police warned the couple to be careful when they arrived at a station to invite officers to their official wedding reception last month.

The couple wed in January against the wishes of both families.

Pranay was a Dalit Christian of the Mala caste (a lower caste) and Amrutha belonged to the Vaishya caste (a caste group categorised as Forward).

His parents recently accepted the marriage and hosted a wedding reception for the couple on August 17 but Amrutha's family wouldn't accept the union.

Local media reports that some members of his family believe the gruesome murder was triggered by a wedding video Amrutha posted on Facebook.

Police also said they called Amrutha's father in to the station in March to question him about whether he planned to use violence against his son-in-law but he insisted he didn't.

Deputy Superintendent of Police for Nalgonda Srinivas, who is investigating the case, told TNM: "I had my suspicions about the father and had warned the couple in August.

"I suspected some untoward incident could happen as the issue was caste related.

"When they held the reception in August, we gave out notices and had deployed a few police officers at the venue so that nothing bad happens.”

Amrutha has since told reporters that she believes her father and uncle are allegedly behind the murder of her husband.

However, police are tight-lipped about the role of her uncle in connection with the case and said the "investigation is progressing fast".