Engineering student’s ‘suicide’ turns out to be murder; two arrested

What initially appeared to be the ‘death by suicide’ of a 21-year-old engineering student after consuming pesticide turned into a murder case after Peddpalli police found that she had allegedly been forced to consume it and that a note was part of an attempt to make her death appear self-inflicted.

Police arrested Naveen Kumar, 38, an outsourced lecturer at the Singareni Collieries Polytechnic in Naspur, on charges of murdering Thandra Akshitarani and attempting to stage her death . Ravi Kumar, 35, a Singareni overman accused of threatening, blackmailing, and forcefully intimidating her in the name of love, was also arrested. Both were taken into custody on September 20.

Peddapalli Deputy Commissioner of Police B. Ram Reddy said that Akshitarani had met Naveen while pursuing her diploma. Their relationship soured after she moved to Hyderabad to pursue a degree in mining engineering and subsequently met Ravi during an apprenticeship at a Singareni mine.

“Naveen could not tolerate Akshitarani distancing herself from him and getting close to Ravi Kumar. He developed a grudge against the two of them,” said the officer

According to police, Naveen intercepted Akshitarani near the FCI crossroads while she was returning home on September 12. He took her in his car and allegedly forced her to write a note blaming Ravi for sexual assault before forcing her to consume pesticide.

Police said Naveen then delayed her from getting medical treatment. He later allegedly used Akshitarani’s phone to contact her father in an attempt to make the family believe that she had killed herself.

Akshitarani was eventually taken to the Godavarikhani government hospital on September 12. She died during treatment the following day. With the note pointing towards suicide, police initially registered a case of death by suicide.

But CCTV footage, call logs, call recordings and other technical evidence began pointing investigators in a different direction. Police reconstructed the sequence of events and identified Naveen as the main accused in her death.

Naveen is married and has two daughters. Ravi is also married and has children. Police seized a car and mobile phones as part of the investigation.

Meanwhile, a separate investigation is underway into Akshitarani’s allegations against Ravi, including that he had forced her into a physical relationship. He is also accused of threatening and blackmailing her.

(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416. and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050).