VIJAYAWADA: A 33-year-old Catholic priest allegedly committed suicide in his room at St.Peter’s Cathedral under One Town police station limits on Tuesday night. The incident came to light on Wednesday morning when the church staff found the pastor dead in his room and informed the management and police.
The deceased has been identified as Kondru Velangani Raju. He had been working as an assistant parish priest at the church for the past three years. It is being suspected that Raju might have taken the extreme step due to differences regarding church properties between the management and some of the junior priests.
One Town inspector P Venkateswarlu said police received information about the suicide and collected evidences from the crime scene. The priest did not leave any suicide note.“Based on a statement from Raju’s brother, a case has been registered and detailed probe is on to find the reasons behind the incident,” said the police.
Meanwhile, Raju’s family staged a protest in front of the Vijayawada GGH demanding police to conduct a fair probe into the priest’s suicide. West zone ACP K Hanumantha Rao assured the kin of justice.
(Suicide helplines -- Maithri, Cochin: +91 239 6272; Sumaitri, New Delhi: 2338 9090, Sneha, Chennai: 91-44-2464 0050, 91-44-2464 0060, Aasra, Mumbai: 9820466726, Fortis MentalHealth: 8376804102)