Swapna, claiming to be the second wife of slain engineer K Suryanarayana, has embarked on a hunger strike demanding a share into the Rs 5 lakh compensation, prompting the Andhra Pradesh government to take cautious steps.

• Taliban kill Indian engineer Suryanarayana

Swapna along with her 10-month-old daughter Nitisha and some close relatives were sitting on dharna outside the house of Suryanarayana's family, demanding "equal rights" for her daughter.

Swapna claimed that she was married to Suryanarayana in Warangal district two years ago and that his first wife was aware of it.

Suryanarayana, a telecom engineer and employed by a Bahrain Telecom company, was kidnapped and killed by the Taliban militia in Afghanistan last month.

Meanwhile, Suryanarayan's wife Manjula is recuperating at a hospital in Hyderabad after her suicide bid.

The family sources said Manjula was deeply disturbed due to the surfacing of the second wife and her claims over the compensation.

An official spokesman said the government would not make any hasty move on the issue of disbursing the ex-gratia amount in view of this development.

"We will follow all the legal guidelines on payment of ex-gratia," the spokesman said.