A police constable was suspended by the Telangana government on Thursday after he was caught on camera kicking a grieving father, who was protesting the circumstances around the death of his 17-year-old daughter in Velimela, Sangareddy district. The video of constable N Sridhar was widely shared on social media.
State Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali directed the Sangareddy district Superintendent of Police to take action against the constable. An official release said the minister ordered the SP to initiate action to suspend N Sridhar after he "manhandled" the father.
Very disturbing... Body of 16-year-old girl who died under suspicious circumstances at private junior college in #Patancheru being shifted at breakneck speed by @TelanganaPolice; girl's father who wanted to stop & ask questions is kicked by the policeman; where is empathy?? @ndtv pic.twitter.com/QcoUsnBuY1
— Uma Sudhir (@umasudhir) February 26, 2020
Earlier, Municipal Administration Minister and ruling TRS working president K T Rama Rao said that he would bring the matter to the notice of the state Home Minister.
"Showing empathy in times of grief such as this is the basic courtesy that is expected of Govt officials," Rama Rao, son of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, tweeted.
Sandhya Rani, a student of Narayana Residential College, allegedly took her own life in her college hostel on Tuesday. However, Sandhya’s parents suspect foul play in her death and have accused the college management of having Sandhya killed and orchestrating the suicide.
On Wednesday, some students tried to take the body, which was kept in a freezer box, from the hospital and proceeded towards the college after the parents complained of negligence in the death of her daughter. However, police managed to stop them and forcibly tried bringing back the body to the hospital. However, Chandrashekar, Sandhya’s father, tried to prevent the post mortem from being conducted on the body. At the hospital's entry gate, Chandrashekar obstructed the police, and an enraged Sridhar kicked him. His colleagues joined in manhandling the grieving father. The video of the incident soon went viral and sparked outrage.
Following the incident, the Sangareddy district police "attached" the policeman to the headquarters and ordered a departmental inquiry against him.