HYDERABAD: A farmer, Nallu Nageswar Reddy, and his wife Laxmi, who allegedly forced the former’s parents to death by denying them proper care and food in Tummagudem village of Mothe mandal, were arrested by Suryapet police under charges of culpable homicide.
After Nageswar’s parents Nallu Ramachandra Reddy, 90, and Anasuyamma, 80, passed away on May 27, the accused duo informed the villagers that they died of Covid-19, and buried them immediately. The villagers raised suspicion as the accused duo refrained from carrying out any rituals, and alerted the cops.
The police initially registered a suspicious death case and exhumed the bodies. The postmortem examination revealed that the couple died of dehydration due to starvation, following which the case was altered, and Nageswar and Laxmi were arrested and sent to remand on Monday, said Circle Inspector Munagala Anjaneyulu.
Police said the elderly couple had two sons who had to take care of the former on a monthly basis. After their younger son’s death, Nageswar and Laxmi had to take care of them during May. During their stay with the accused duo, the elderly couple was thrown out of the house and forced to live in a temporary structure made with wood, while the roof was made of cement bags. The probe revealed that the accused duo also did not provide food or drinking water to them.
Due to the summer heat and lack of water and food, the couple was starved and dehydrated, and finally died on May 27. Nageswar and Laxmi feared that the villagers might want to see the bodies so they spread the word that the elderly couple died of Covid-19. The duo shifted the bodies in a JCB to the outskirts of the village and buried them in a pit.