"My children are still thinking their mother will come back. They're asking when she will come," says Swamy Naidu, his voice shaking. It has been over one year since Naidu’s wife, 32-year-old Dr Shyamala, was found dead under suspicious circumstances in a canal of the Polavaram project, at Tallapalem of Kasimkota in Visakhapatnam. Since the incident on August 4, 2020, Swamy Naidu, a mechanical engineer, has been saying that his wife was murdered. He claimed that some people developed a grudge against her as she was trying to expose alleged financial irregularities at the Rajenderpalem Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Koyyuru and in the department, where she was working as a medical officer.
According to Swamy, police had registered a case under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code (unnatural death) at the time, and since then, there has been no progress in the investigation. "The police would orally tell me that it was a death by suicide without concluding the investigation. But that is not the case. She has no reason to do so. It was a pre-planned murder," Swamy alleged. Pointing out that the canal was largely dry, he asked, "How can anyone die in one feet of water in a canal under construction? There are several discrepancies in the events leading up to her death. Over a phone call on the day of the incident at around 7 am, she told me that she is 20 minutes away from the place where she was found, but the police report said otherwise."
Swamy alleged that the police said that Dr Shyamala died by suicide after being disappointed over the death of a pregnant woman — one of her patients. However, along with the family, several civil society organisations have also demanded for a comprehensive investigation, pointing to the possibility of a murder. Swamy alleged that the police were negligent as they did not rope in a clues team and a dog squad to collect evidence from the scene at the time.
Pointing fingers at the District Medical and Health Department, Swamy said that neither the staff nor superior officers came to meet the family, or issued a condolence statement from their office, as his wife was a medical officer. Swamy said that he has sent multiple representations to the government including Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Home Minister Mekapati Sucharitha. Swamy said, "We request the CM to task the Crime Investigation Department (CID) or Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the case and deliver justice to us. Otherwise, the case will remain unsolved forever."
However, the Visakhapatnam Rural Police said that there has been definite progress in the case, and its investigation. Speaking to TNM, District Superintendent of Police (SP) Krishna Rao said, "Definitely, he (Swamy) might think that it is a murder, but we are not arriving at that conclusion as per our investigation." The SP denied allegations of negligence in collection of evidence, and said, "We have explained to him several times about what we have done. We know what we are arriving at. As the investigation is ongoing, we would not like to divulge further details."