HANAMKONDA: Warangal Commissioner of Police (CP) A V Ranganath on Monday said the police could not find any evidence that Kakatiya Medical College (KMC) First Year Post Graduate Student Dr Dharawath Preethi was murdered.
Ranganath, speaking to reporters, pointed out that the police had examined the murder angle after her parents doubted it could be a case of murder but they could not find any evidence. He said the police department was updating Minister K T Rama Rao and T Harish Rao on the progress of investigations regularly. “Anyway, we are waiting for the Post-Mortem Examination (PME) report. Till now, we have no evidence that she had been murdered, he said.
On the day of the incident, the police found used injections but no needles in the staff room of the MGM Hospital, Warangal. Postgraduate students belonging to the anaesthesia department said they carried emergency kits every day during their duty hours.
He said: “The police examined Preethi’s mobile phone and found that she had searched on Google the effect of the drugs that were made available to them in their emergency kits by the hospital. The police found Succinylcholine (not used fully and was available in the kit), Midazolam and Pentanol found in half quantity.”
The CP said that they had examined all the conversations and messages of Kakatiya Medical College (KM) Post Graduate (PG) second-year student Dr Md Saif on his mobile phone. “We came to know that Saif is deliberately harassing Preethi,” he said.
He added that they recorded students’ and parents’ statements during the investigation. “Though we have received the Toxicology report, it is not the final report in Preethi’s case. We are waiting for the PME report and once we receive it we will know for sure the cause of her death. We are investigating the case from all angles,” he said.
On February 22, 2023, Dr Preethi attempted suicide, unable to bear the harassment of the PG second-year student Dr Saif in the MGM Hospital, Warangal. She was later shifted to NIMS, Hyderabad where she died while undergoing treatment on February 26.
After her death, the Mattewada police altered Section 306 read with 108 of IPC to 306 IPC (abetment of suicide). If the accused was found guilty under this section, he could be punished with imprisonment which may extend upto 10 years and would be liable to pay fine. He has also been slapped with the section 4(V) of the Prohibition of Ragging Act, sections (1)(r), 3 (2)(va),3 (1)(w) (ii) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.