Video of Telangana cop kicking father of 16-yr-old girl who committed suicide surfaces; Sangareddy district police takes action

Hyderabad: A man protesting over the death of his 16-year-old daughter, who allegedly committed suicide, was purportedly kicked by a policeman after he tried to stop police personnel from taking her body inside the mortuary of a state-run hospital near here, police said on Wednesday. Earlier, tension prevailed when some students and others forcibly took the teenager’s body from the mortuary towards the private institute where she studied to hold a protest after her family members and relatives accused the college management of negligence for her death, sources said. Police, who managed to stop the group, brought the body that was kept inside a mortuary freezer box back to the hospital, even as a video purportedly showing a policeman kicking the girl’s father, who attempted to stop police from shifting the body, has gone viral. [caption id=“attachment_4878911” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] The girl’s parents had earlier blamed the college management of negligence leading to her death and had demanded compensation from them, police said. Following the incident, the Sangareddy district police “attached” the policeman to the headquarters and ordered a departmental inquiry. According to a senior police official,the girl, an Intermediate first-year student, had committed suicide by hanging herself in the bathroom of the institute’s hostel on Tuesday afternoon after bolting the door from inside. She was taken to a nearby private hospital where she was declared dead and later her body was shifted to the state-run hospital at Patancheru for conducting post-mortem, the official said. Meanwhile, the parents of the girl accused the college management of negligence as according to them their daughter was ill for the past four days. The parents alleged that they did not inform them about her sickness and she was not given proper treatment by them nor was she sent home as exams were approaching forcing her to resort to the extreme step, the official said. Based on the complaint, a case under IPC section 304A (causing death by negligence) was registered against the private college management on Tuesday. On Wednesday, about 10-15 students affiliated to a Left-wing students organisation and others barged into the hospital, police said. They pushed aside doctors and medical staff and allegedly broke the window panes of the hospital and brought out the freezer box containing the body and proceeded towards the institute but police stopped them. Police were proceeding to the mortuary when the girl’s father fell down before the freezer box to stop the police from shifting the body inside the hospital when this unfortunate incident (of the man getting kicked by the policeman) happened, the official said. The official further said the police were trying to prevent the agitators from taking the law into their own hands at the mortuary. After examination of the video, action has been initiated against the “erring” policeman by attaching him to the headquarters, which is being followed up by departmental inquiry, he said. A case has been registered on charges of unlawful Assembly, obstructing public servant from discharge of his duty and vandalism under relevant IPC sections in connection with shifting of the body besides taking some protesters into preventive custody, the official added.