G. Eknath Reddy, a grandson of prominent sweet shop owner and educationist late G Pulla Reddy, was booked by Punjagutta police on Friday evening on charges of domestic violence.
His parents G. Raghava Reddy and Bharati Reddy, and sister G Srividya Reddy were also booked for allegedly harassing his wife K Pragnya Reddy and demanding additional dowry. The family allegedly confined Ms. Pragnya and her seven-and-half-year-old daughter in their house at Begumpet without providing food and water. However, she managed to call the Punjagutta police and lodged a telephonic complaint. Later, her father reached Hyderabad from Bengaluru and rescued the mother-daughter duo.
In her complaint, the victim told the police that she was married to Eknath Reddy in March 2014 at a star hotel in Bengaluru and her parents gave a dowry of ₹ 75 lakh in cash, apart from gold jewellery and silver articles worth more than ₹ 55 lakh. Later, she came to know that her husband was suffering from blood cancer, which was not informed during the wedding. As she is the only daughter, the Pulla Reddy family demanded that her parents buy a commercial property as additional dowry. When they refused, the family members threatened the victim and her parents and filed a divorce petition before Family Court. Her interim petitions for an injunction to restrain her in-laws from evicting her from the house and another petition for maintenance are still pending adjudication, Ms. Pragyna Reddy told police.
