Many Doubts Still Over Beautician, SI Deaths

R J Photo Studio owner Rajeev and his friend Shravan, who were arrested in connection with the suicide of beautician Sirisha, were remanded to 14 days judicial custody and sent to Chanchalguda jail on Saturday.

The police, who are continuing their investigation into the sensational twin deaths of Sirisha and Sub-Inspector Prabhakar Reddy, have charged Shravan as A1 and Rajeev as A2 for abetment to the alleged suicide of Sirisha. Both were produced before the Nampally criminal court today, and were remanded to judicial custody.

It might be recalled that 29-year-old Vijayalakshmi alias Sirisha, who was working as a beautician-cum-HR-Manager in studio owned by Rajeev, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in the studio in the wee hours of Tuesday. The next afternoon Sub-Inspector Prabhakar Reddy of Kuknoorpally police station shot himself to death with his service revolver in the police quarters.

The police invesigation revealed that Sirisha had committed suicide upset over the sleazy drama that had unfolded in the police quarters of Kuknoorpally Police Station when SI Prabhakar Reddy allegedly tried to sexually assault her. The trio - Rajeev, Shravan and Sirisha - claimed to have gone to meet the SI to help settle a dispute between Sirisha and Tejaswini, a woman whom Rajeev was planning to marry.

The investigating officers claimed that the SI might have committed suicide with his revolver in panic after coming to know of the death of Sirisha.

Despite the police concluding that Sirisha had hanged herself, there are loose ends in the case. Firstly, though both Rajeev and Shravan were arrested on charges of abetment in the purported suicide of Sirisha, it is not known why Shravan was treated as A1 and Rajeev as A2 though it was stated that the latter was accused of causing injuries on the body of Sirisha.

Secondly, it was claimed by the police that Sirisha had committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling fan by using a "chunni". However there is no clarity as to how a chunni could have been used for committing suicide as Sirisha was wearing jeans and a shirt. Also, there is no clarity as to how Sirisha, who was stated to have consumed liquor at the SI's quarters, managed to reach the ceiling fan to tie the chunni and then hang herself.

The husband and family members of Sirisha are not convinced by the police theory that she had committed suicide, and suspect that there is something more to it than meets the eye. Even the family members of Prabhakar Reddy are disputing that he had committed suicide and that too due to the Sirisha episode. They alleged that the SI had been driven to the extreme step due to harassment by senior police officers.

Meanwhile the investigating officers could not view the CCTV footage of the Kuknoorpally police station as the technicians could not open the camera despite trying for two days. This has given more leverage to the family of the SI to allege that there is something fishy in the suicide theory. The police have retrieved the hard disk and carried it to Hyderabad for forensic science laboratory authorities to examine.