It is disheartening for a father to see the dead body of their young child lying in front of them. The pain and agony they undergo can’t be expressed in words. And at this moment of grief, all one wants it to spend some time with the departed soul and prepare oneself to bid them adieu.
This sobbing ex-serviceman also wanted to do so when his daughter committed suicide at a college hostel. But in a video, the helpless father is seen kicked by a policeman when he tried to prevent them from taking his daughter’s body to the hospital mortuary, reported Deccan Chronicle.
The incident occurred at Patancheru in Sanga Reddy district near Hyderabad in Telangana. According to police, on Tuesday, the class 11 student, S Sandhya Rani, 16, committed suicide by hanging herself in the hostel bathroom of a private college in Velimala village. However, the family has alleged that the management killed the teenager and framed it as a suicide, reported News18.
According to the mother of the deceased, her daughter had earlier complained of high fever. The family alleged that the hostel authorities neglected her complaint and hours later they informed the family that the girl hanged herself in the hostel bathroom.
On learning of his daughter’s suspicious death, the father S Chandrasekhar lodged a complaint with the nearest police station alleging the negligence by the college management that led to Sandhya’s death. Soon after, a case of criminal negligence was registered and the body was shifted for post-mortem.
The Outlook reports that the relatives of the girl, who were crying foul over the incident, tried to take the body out and wanted to stage a protest demanding justice for the family of the deceased. In this regards, SP of Sangareddy district Chandana Deepti said:
“The girl committed suicide day before yesterday. Her body was in the mortuary and some agitators, some kith and kin of hers, broke the glass of mortuary today and tried to take the body to the main road to possibly stop the traffic.”
However, the police managed to chase away the protestors and took custody of the dead body. As they were transporting the body from the hostel to the government hospital for an autopsy, her father tried to obstruct police from taking the body. That’s when one of the police constables, identified as Sridhar Reddy, kicked the father, reported The Indian Express.
#WATCH Telangana: Police personnel kicks father of a 16-yr-old girl who allegedly committed suicide on Feb 24 in her hostel in Sangareddy reportedly because college mgmt did not allow her to go home, although she was ill. A probe has been ordered against the personnel. (26.02) pic.twitter.com/OtxKYDMQ8Z
— ANI (@ANI) February 26, 2020
SP Chandana further added, “Police tried to bring it back and in the process, her father tried to obstruct police. One of the policemen seems to have kicked him. The video has been examined and action has been initiated.”
Very disturbing… Body of 16-year-old girl who died under suspicious circumstances at private junior college in #Patancheru being shifted at breakneck speed by @TelanganaPolice; girl's father who wanted to stop & ask questions is kicked by the policeman; where is empathy?? @ndtv pic.twitter.com/QcoUsnBuY1
— Uma Sudhir (@umasudhir) February 26, 2020
Following the unfortunate incident, SP Chandana said that necessary actions will be taken against the police constable in question. “The police were trying to prevent the agitators taking law into their own hands at the mortuary, yet suitable action will be taken for any wilful misbehaviour exhibited by the officers on duty, as alleged in the video.”
The video of the policemen manhandling the father made it to the internet where people called them out for their unruly behaviour:
@TelanganaDGP @TelanganaPolice @TV9Telangana
Plzz take strict action against these police officer and college managment— Yuvraj Singh (@YuviRw) February 26, 2020
He is not a criminal but a father, who lost his daughter ! Action be taken on Constable as well as the SP, who justified the brutality.
— Rons3455 (@ChowkidarRon) February 27, 2020
https://twitter.com/somayan_stable/status/1232759583308795905
😡😡 Arrest him and those with him!!! Isn’t this video enough??
— Raj Rockstaar (@RajRockstaar) February 26, 2020
Must take strict action against this police officer.⛏️
— Avi (@Avi56595925) February 27, 2020
It's horrible! Need a strict action to be taken against Police! With this lack of humanity, I must say our country is in danger.
— Agam Saroop (@agamsaroopgarg) February 27, 2020
However, the circle inspector of BDL Bhanur police station Ram Reddy said that the video does not show what led to the incident. “Stones were pelted at us. They broke open the doors of mortuary and tried to take away the body forcibly. They wanted to take away the body to the college hostel and sit on a protest demanding justice. We had to take the body back from them and in the process, it happened accidentally.”
The Superintendent of Police from Sangareddy later tweeted that the cop in question is placed under suspension.
The Police Officer named N.Sridhar Pc-349 who is seen kicking the father of the deceased, in the Patancheru incident of 26.02.2020, is placed under suspension.@TelanganaDGP @TelanganaCOPs @KTRTRS @TelanganaCMO @TV9Telugu @V6News
— SP SANGAREDDY (@spsangareddy) February 27, 2020
In reference to the girl’s suicide, SP Chandana said, “as per the contents of the complaint, a case has been registered under section 304A of IPC. The investigation has to happen first. Prima facie it’s a suicide. PME was done only today. We are awaiting the report. Unless the investigation concludes, we can’t say anything”.
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