A Month Later, Doubts Loom Over Dalit Girl’s Suicide in AP School

The girl’s kin have demanded a judicial probe into the case, which they claim is not a suicide but rape and murder.

Image used for representational purposes. 

(Photo: iStock)

It has been a month since a 15-year-old Scheduled Caste (SC) girl was allegedly found hanging in her hostel room at Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy Residential School (CRRRS) in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh on 19 August, as per a report by The New Indian Express.

The issue has received all but no coverage on English mainstream media, which could be one of the causes behind the case not being taken up for consideration by the Andhra Pradesh government. Padma Shri awardee and social activist Sunitha Krishnan addressed the issue through a Twitter post on Monday night:

Sugali Preethi Bai, a Class 10 student of CRRS, was allegedly found hanging from the ceiling fan in her hostel room on 19 August, reported The New Indian Express.

The girl’s mother Sugali Parvathi claimed that her daughter had been raped and murdered, and that the school was trying to pass it off as a suicide, The Hindu reported. The mother had also claimed that her daughter’s hands and legs were wounded, which implied assault.

Twitter user Raju Naik, claiming to be Sugali Preethi Bai’s father, tagged the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in a tweet about her death:

Raju Naik has also tagged Sunitha Krishnan in a similar Twitter post:

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter Screengrab/Raju Naik)

Protest images in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh.(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Dawood Dawood)

Preethi Bai’s uncle Ramachandra Naik accused V Janardhan Reddy and his two sons or raping and murdering his niece, as per the report by The New Indian Express. Demanding that the school be sealed by the government, Naik told the newspaper:

After raping her on Friday night, they killed and hanged her to the ceiling fan to make it look like she had hanged herself.

Following her death, Preethi Bai’s family and members of several student bodies like AISF and Tribal Students Association staged a protest at the Kurnool District Collectorate, which turned violent, as furniture was destroyed and the school principal’s car was damaged, reported the Telugu news channel 10TV.

Private School Management’s Association President Srinivasa Reddy was also assaulted, reported The Hindu. SC/ST bodies like Banjara Hakkula Sangham also participated in the dharna.

The girl’s mother demanded that the school’s chairman V Janardhan Reddy and members of the management committee – Harshvardhan Reddy and Diwakar Reddy –be arrested.

Amid protests, the District Collector S Satyanarayana set up an inquiry committee comprising Kurnool Revenue Divisional Officer Hussain Saheb, District Educational Officer Tahera Sultana and Deputy Director of Social Welfare Prasada Rao, who visited the residential school and began a probe into Preethi Bai’s death, reported The Hindu.

Protests outside the Kurnool District Collectorate.(Photo Courtesy: Facebook / ADONI)

A month after the girl’s death, her family and many Dalit leaders sloganeered against the government and the district administration for failing to arrest the alleged perpetrators, reported The Hindu.

Kurnool IV Town police had registered a case under Section 302 and invoked provisions of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and POCSO Act against school chairman V Janardhan Reddy and his sons on 19 August, stated the report.

The girl’s family and supporters have claimed that the police have been coerced into not making these arrests by Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) Nandikotkur constituency-in-charge Mandra Sivananda Reddy, Education Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao and other TDP leaders, reported The Hindu. The report claims that Mandra Sivananda Reddy is related to the school’s chairman.

On 27 August, the demand for a judicial probe into the case by a sitting judge was made during a protest by Dalit activists and others at the Kurnool Collectorate.

At a protest on 7 September, the girl’s uncle Ramachandra Naik threatened self-immolation by splashing himself with petrol, after climbing a mobile tower at the Collectorate. Naik was pushed to this desperate act after remaining unconvinced of the Collector’s assurance that the perpetrators would be arrested in a day’s time, reported The Hindu.

(With inputs from The Hindu, The News Indian Express, 10TV)

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