ADILABAD: A 26-year-old woman from Tekumatla village in Jaipur mandal of Mancherial district allegedly died by suicide after being stalked and harassed for nearly two years by an SCCL employee. In a purported suicide note, she named him as the reason for taking the extreme step.
The victim, Gopika Madhavi, a B Pharmacy graduate, was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her house late on Sunday night.
According to police, the accused, Gone Venkatesh, an SCCL employee from the same village, had been pressuring her to enter into a relationship and marry him. Madhavi had reportedly refused, telling him that marriage was not possible as they belonged to different Scheduled Caste sub-groups — she to the Mala community and he to the Netakani community.
Despite this, Venkatesh allegedly continued to harass her and damage her reputation. Police said he had also threatened to die by suicide and leave a note blaming her if she refused to marry him.
The family further alleged that Venkatesh’s mother Shankaramma and sister Shailaja also pressured Madhavi to marry him and warned her of dire consequences if anything happened to him.
Village elders had convened a panchayat to resolve the issue and reportedly advised Venkatesh to stop harassing her. However, the harassment allegedly continued.
Unable to bear the harassment, Madhavi allegedly died by suicide.
Police shifted the body to the Mancherial Government Hospital for postmortem.
Her family members demanded strict action against Venkatesh. A case had been registered by police and an investigation is under way.
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