Kamal Ghorui
The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed appeals in the 2002 death case of actress Prathyusha, ruling out murder and affirming Gudipalli Siddhartha Reddy’s conviction for abetment of suicide. Reddy moved the apex court to challenge his conviction for abetment of suicide, while Pratyusha’s mother appealed against the reduction of his sentence. A Bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal and Manmohan held that overwhelming ocular and medical evidence established death due to poisoning, rejecting allegations of strangulation and rape. The court upheld the finding that abetment (of suicide) was proved, dismissed the plea seeking enhancement of sentence, and directed Reddy to surrender within four weeks, bringing closure to the 23-year-old legal battle.
What happened?Prathyusha was a young Telugu-Tamil actress whose career was on the rise in the early 2000s. In February 2002, the 22-year-old died after consuming pesticide in Hyderabad. She was reportedly in a relationship with Gudipalli Siddhartha Reddy, which faced opposition from his family. The prosecution maintained that the two consumed poison together in a suicide pact, but while Reddy survived, Prathyusha died on the way to the hospital. Reddy was later sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for abetment of suicide and one year for attempting suicide, which was later reduced to two years by the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
