VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday criticised the Nallapadu police in Guntur district for their handling of a suspicious death case involving a Dalit student, expressing disbelief at their claim that the deceased had given a statement before her death.
Justice Battu Devanand observed that the police fabricated a story to depict the incident as suicide despite evidence suggesting otherwise.
The case involves the death of Garnepudi Sravani Sandhya, a first-year polytechnic student at St. Mary’s Engineering College in Budampadu, Guntur. Sandhya, a native of Gopayapalem in Amruthalur mandal, died under suspicious circumstances on February 28, 2017.
Her mother, Garnepudi Jayalakshmi, alleged that her daughter’s death was a murder involving the college management and her roommates. Despite her complaint, Nallapadu police registered the case as a suspicious death and failed to invoke provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
After the investigation was allegedly neglected, Jayalakshmi approached the High Court on July 6, 2017, seeking a probe by the CBI or CID.