SC Upholds Conviction In Pratyusha Death Case

Pratyusha died in Hyderabad on February 24, 2002.
A two-judge bench of Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Manmohan said: "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."

A trial court had in 2004 sentenced G. Siddharth Reddy to five years' imprisonment and slapped a fine of `5,000 on charges of abetment of suicide. It had also awarded him one more year of imprisonment and a fine of `1,000 for attempting suicide.
In 2011, the then undivided Andhra Pradesh High Court had reduced the jail sentence of G. Siddhartha Reddy, who was convicted for her death, to two years from the five years earlier awarded.
According to the remand report, Reddy and Pratyusha were in love with each other for six years.
While the relation was acceptable to Pratyusha's mother, Reddy's mother did not agree to the alliance on account of which both of them decided to commit suicide.
On February 23, 2002, both of them went in a car, and attempted to die by suicide. However, wisdom prevailed over them and they decided that they should not die. They drove to a hospital in Hyderabad in the car driven by Reddy. In spite of the medical care, Pratyusha died while Reddy survived.
“This court holds that the accused's conduct in entering into and acting upon the suicide pact falls squarely within all the three situations envisaged in Section 107 (Abetment) of the IPC. His participation directly facilitated the deceased's suicide. Notably, it is not his defence that the deceased was the dominant personality who pressured him into the pact. His culpability therefore stands established,” the apex court bench said.
The top court said the allegation of homicidal death by manual strangulation is wholly unsustainable.
The top court also slammed Dr Muni Swamy, since deceased, who conducted post-mortem of the actress, and said even though there was a doctor on duty on February 25, 2002, he came to the mortuary on his own and did the autopsy.
The bench said it was surprising as Dr Swamy was neither on duty at the mortuary nor on call duty as professor.

The family of film actor Pratyusha runs a trust in her name, dedicated to women empowerment and providing training. Her brother is also looking to enter Tollywood.

Her mother P. Sarojini Devi established the Pratyusha Charitable Trust. The idea was mooted by former chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao who encouraged her to divert her grief into meaningful service. He contributed `500 towards the registration charges of the trust.

The trust initially focused on women empowerment and medical services. It offered tailoring, beautician and computer training courses aimed at providing employment opportunities. Women from Karimnagar, Warangal, Anantapur, East and West Godavari, and other districts of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh attended these programmes.

At present, the trust undertakes vocational training supported by the government and family counselling programmes offered by the Centre.

Recalling February 23, 2002, the day Pratyusha was found dead, P. Sarojini Devi told Deccan Chronicle she waved her daughter goodbye. Pratyusha and her cousin stepped out for parlour services; The actress was scheduled to fly to Chennai the next day for a month-long shoot of two films.

G. Siddharth Reddy — convicted by the Supreme Court of abetting the actress’ suicide — told her they would not be able to meet for a month and asked her to join him briefly. After convincing her cousin, she left with him.

While she was expected to purchase flight tickets at Begumpet Airport for the next day, the family instead received a call from a hospital informing them she was admitted in the hospital.

“She is my daughter, my life, I will fight for justice till my last breath,” Sarojini Devi asserted.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, her brother Krishna Chandra recalled that he was only nine years old when his sister passed away. “Our sister left us too early. She was succeeding in the industry then,” he said. “For us, she was a goddess. Even today, we refer to her as ‘Ma inti deepam’.”

He remembered accompanying her to movie shoots and watching her work. “She remained in everybody’s hearts. Her roles were ideal and like a girl next door,” he said. Following her path, Chandra completed his MBA before entering Tollywood. He is currently working on a project, continuing what he describes as the dream she began.