SC dismisses plea challenging conviction in Telugu actor Pratyusha's death case; says ‘difficult’ to allege rape, murder

Directing Siddhartha Reddy to surrender in the Telugu actor Pratyusha's death case, the Supreme Court turned down a plea challenging his conviction.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed pleas filed by Telugu actor Pratyusha’s mother, P Sarojini Devi, and her former boyfriend, Siddhartha Reddy. The mother’s plea alleged foul play in the death, while Siddhartha’s plea challenged his conviction in the 2002 case. The court directed Siddhartha to surrender within four weeks.

24 years after Pratyusha's death due to alleged suicide, her boyfriend Siddhartha Reddy has been asked to surrender.

Siddhartha Reddy asked to surrender in Pratyusha’s death case

The SC bench comprising Justices Rajesh Bindal and Manmohan dismissed Siddhartha’s plea on Tuesday, challenging his conviction in the death of Pratyusha in 2002. According to PTI, the court has directed him to surrender within four weeks for abetment to suicide. It also dismissed Sarojini’s plea alleging foul play in her daughter’s death, claiming she was raped and poisoned.

“Murder by strangulation is ruled out. Two, overwhelming ocular and medical evidence proves death due to poisoning. Three, the offence of rape against the appellant accused is not made out. At the belated stage, it is difficult to allege that the cause of death was rape and strangulation,” the bench said.

The court also called for a postmortem report made by Dr B Muni Swamy that determined Pratyusha died by strangulation, terming it ‘unprofessional’ and calling its publication ‘premature’.

Pratyusha’s death and its aftermath

Pratyusha was at the height of her career in the Telugu film industry, having acted in films such as Samudram, Snehamante Idera and Kalusukovalani in the late 90s and early 2000s. She died in Hyderabad on February 24, 2002.

According to the remand report, the gist of the case against Siddhartha is that both he and Pratyusha had attempted to die by suicide. They had been in love for 6 years, and while Sarojini was okay with it, his mother did not approve of the alliance. The couple allegedly decided to die by suicide due to this.

On February 23, 2002, both went in a car, purchased a pesticide bottle, mixed it in a soft drink and consumed it. However, wisdom prevailed, and they drove to Care Hospital. Despite medical care, Pratyusha died, while Siddhartha survived. The case was widely discussed, and some prominent actors and politicians were linked to it.

However, after all the facts were placed in a trial court, Siddhartha was sentenced to six years' imprisonment and asked to pay a fine of ₹6000 as he was found guilty of abetment of suicide and attempting suicide. In 2011, the Andhra Pradesh High Court reduced his jail term from six to two years. Sarojini had also challenged this reduced sentence in the SC.