Hyderabad: A police constable who kicked the father of an intermediate girl who had commited suicide on Tuesday was attached to the AR headquarter on Wednesday with immediate effect. He faces disciplinary action after a detailed inquiry into his alleged highhanded behaviour.
The in-charge Superintendent of Police of Sangareddy district Chandana Deepthi initiated the action after IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao took serious note of the incident. A video clip which shows police constable Sridhar kicking the father, Chandrashekhar, went viral on social media platforms on Wednesday.
Kicking incident
Sandhya Rani (16), a native of Yenugonda in Mahabubnagar district, was a first year Intermediate student of Narayana Junior College at Velimela under BDL-Bhanur Police station limits. She committed suicide on Tuesday and her body was shifted to Area Hospital, Patancheru, for postmortem the same night. The parents, however, supported by local students union leaders, staged a protest on Wednesday morning. Chandrashekar and his wife Padma demanded that the police take the body to the college premises to seek an explanation from the management on her suicide. The controversial kicking incident took place when the police were trying to shift Sandhya’s body back to the hospital.
Rama Rao, in a tweet, said he will bring the issue to the notice of Home Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali. “Will request Mahmood Ali Saab and the @TelanganaDGP Garu to review the insensitive handling by these policemen. Showing empathy in times of grief such as this is the basic courtesy that is expected of government officials,” he said.
DGP’s response
Responding to the Minister’s tweet, DGP Mahender Reddy described it as an unfortunate incident. “The concerned police officer has been directed to take appropriate measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, Chandana Deepthi, in a statement, said the entire police department regrets the insensitive behaviour of the police constable.
She said Sandhya’s ” Body was kept in the mortuary room in the government hospital, Patancheru for postmortem,” she said, adding that the girl’s relatives tried to take the body to the college, and in the process, they and some students attacked the mortuary with stones and sticks. They broke the door and tried to take the body to the college.
The video clip shows policemen shifting the body in a body freezer, when Chandrashekar obstructed them. A constable is seen kicking Chandrashekar when he tried to obstruct them. The father, however, held on to the body freezer tightly. The incident led to some tension at Patancheru Area Hospital.
Finally, the police convinced the parents and relatives and took them to the college, where the management spoke with them. The father was unhappy with the explanation and said his daughter committed suicide as the management neglected her deteriorating health condition. Though they had requested the management to allow them to take their daughter home, Chandrashekar said the management refused permission. The girl was found hanging in a bathroom of the college on Tuesday.