The Hyderabad police are on the lookout for a man named Shiva Ram Rathod after coming across evidence that reportedly indicates that Rathod had abetted the suicide of Marri Pravalika, a young woman who was found dead in her hostel room on Friday night in the city.
On Tuesday, the Chikkadpally police altered the case from Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code to Sections 417 (punishment for cheating), 420 (cheating) and 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Special teams had been rushed to different places, including Rathod’s PC Thanda in Kosigi of undivided Mahbubnagar district, to arrest him.
The ‘suicide’ of Pravalika, who was residing in a private hostel while preparing for competitive exams to secure a government job, assumed political overtones with opposition parties holding the ruling BRS government responsible for the woman’s death. Police officers associated with the investigation of the case, unwilling to be named, said they had stumbled upon evidence which suggests Rathod drove the job aspirant to end her life.
