6 Friends Held For Abetment to Woman’s Suicide in Hotel

Visakhapatnam: Arilova police arrested six persons, including a woman, in connection with the suicide of a 28-year-old woman at a hotel in Visalakshinagar in Visakhapatnam.

Police identified the deceased as Akumarthi Shanthi Kumari. The accused, Putcha Sai Kiran, 24, Rampa Laxmi, 20, Gopasana Venkata Sai Jeswanth, 23, Vasupalli Sai Kumar, 24, and Narava Sai Kumar, 25, along with another woman, were taken into custody.

According to police, Sai Kiran, Sai Kumar and Jeswanth checked into B-Square Hotel near Visalakshinagar on Tuesday.

At around 1 pm, Lakshmi Sanjana, Putcha Sai Kiran, Pudiredla Mani and Shanti Kumari joined them in room number 118, where they all consumed liquor.

During the party, Shanthi Kumari confronted Lakshmi Sanjana over rumours allegedly linking her with Sai Kiran, leading to a quarrel.

Police said Sai Kiran, Lakshmi Sanjana and Jeswanth allegedly assaulted Shanthi, while others abused her. Then, Sai Kumar and Mani left the hotel while the remaining persons moved to the room no 119 in the hotel. After some time, Sai Kiran accompanied Shanthi in room number 118, and he went outside to bring water. Later, Shanthi was left alone in the room, where she died by suicide.

Her friends broke open the door and shifted her to a hospital in the early hours of Wednesday, where she was declared brought dead.

Police said CCTV footage corroborated the sequence of events and that the assault, verbal abuse and humiliation prima facie amounted to abetment of suicide.

Assistant commissioner of police A.N. Murthy said six persons have been arrested and further investigation was underway.