GUNTUR: A red corner notice has been issued against professor AVV Lakshmi of the Guntur Government Hospital (GGH), who has been on the run ever since the Oct 24 suicide of post-graduate medico B Sandhya Rani.
The State police have formed seven teams to arrest the professor, accused of harassing and driving the student to take the extreme step. "We have issued a red corner notice. The police are looking for her in AP and Hyderabad," Guntur Deputy Superintendent of Police K Sarita said.
The investigation picked up momentum amid allegations of political interference and infact, Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas, under growing pressure, swore by his children that professor Lakshmi's husband was not his friend and vowed action against the accused as soon as she was found. "I have nothing to do with Lakshmi's husband. I do not know him," he clarified, during his visit to the hospital along with Poonam Malakondaiah,
Principal Secretary, Medical and Health Department, on Saturday. Poonam Malakondaiah on her part called up State Police Chief N Sambasiva Rao and urged him to speed up the probe.
Sandhya Rani had committed suicide by injecting herself with a high dose of anaesthesia and in her diary, she held the professor responsible for her extreme step. Soon after her death, her husband, Ravi Kumar, too attempted suicide and is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Hyderabad. Kamineni Srinivas told reporters that he had spoken to the Managing Director of the Yashoda Hospitals in Hyderabad and asked him to ensure quality medical care to Sandhya Rani's husband. The State government will take care of his medical expenses, he said.
To prevent harassment, he said he would ensure that complaint boxes were set up in all medial colleges. "Medical students can either mail or text their complaints. We will let you know the number and ID for sending the complaints soon," he said.
According to sources, the magisterial inquiry, ordered by the district collector, will begin soon on GGH premises. The probe committee will be headed by the Revenue Divisional Officer, Guntur, K Srinivasa Rao. Meanwhile, Sandhya Rani's mother Bala Prameela recalled how her daughter had narrated to her the torture she was going through.
"When my daughter sought 20 days leave for her wedding, her professor asked her why did she need so many days and warned her against conceiving. But she did conceive and was afraid that the professor would get to know about it and took pills to terminate her pregnancy," she said, adding she came to know of it only when she found the pills in her daughter's bag after her death.
Sandhya Rani's father Bala Sattaiah, a heart-broken man, alleged that the professor had harassed Sandhya because she got the PG seat while her daughter, who was Sandhya's classmate in MBBS, could not.