- Supreme Court upholds conviction in Telugu actress Pratyusha death case
- Bench rules out strangulation and rape, confirms poisoning as cause
Delhi/Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the plea challenging the conviction in the death of Telugu actress Pratyusha in 2002. The court directed the convicted man to surrender within four weeks. Meanwhile, the bench also rejected a separate plea filed by Pratyusha’s mother alleging foul play.
A bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal and Manmohan ruled out strangulation and rape in the case. The court stated that the medical and ocular evidence clearly established poisoning as the cause of death. Therefore, it upheld the conviction linked to abetment of suicide.
Strangulation is ruled out. Two, overwhelming ocular and medical evidence proves death due to poisoning. Three, the offence of rape against the appellant accused is not made out. At the belated stage, it is difficult to allege that the cause of death was rape and strangulation,” the bench said.
Pratyusha died in Hyderabad on February 24, 2002. Earlier, in 2004, the trial court sentenced G Siddhartha Reddy to five years’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 for abetment of suicide. It also awarded him one more year of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000 for attempting suicide.
However, in 2011, the Andhra Pradesh High Court reduced Reddy’s jail term to two years from the five years earlier awarded. Now, the Supreme Court has dismissed the challenge to his conviction and directed him to surrender.
According to the remand report, Reddy and Pratyusha were in a relationship for six years. While Pratyusha’s mother accepted the relationship, Reddy’s mother opposed it. As a result, both of them allegedly decided to commit suicide.
On February 23, 2002, they went in a car, bought a pesticide bottle, mixed it in coke, and consumed it. Later, they reconsidered their decision. They then drove to Care Hospital in Hyderabad, with Reddy driving the car. Despite medical treatment, Pratyusha died, while Reddy survived.
The Supreme Court’s ruling brings closure to the long-standing Pratyusha death case, reaffirming the findings of poisoning and rejecting allegations of strangulation and rape.
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