HC takes up Tenali case suo motu

Hyderabad/Tenali: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday took suo motu cognisance of the heinous act of some eve-teasers, resulting in the tragic death of a woman who tried to rescue her daughter from them in Tenali town late on Monday night. The PIL Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Vilas Afzalpurkar ordered notices to the Chief Secretary, the Secretary (Home), the DGP, Guntur District Collector and also top officers of the Excise Department. The court also sought a report on the incident from the state police. Bethala Kantha Suneela and her daughter Mounika were returning home when a group of drunken youth emerged from a bar and accosted them. As they passed abusive remarks, Suneela slapped one of them. While some youth held the girl, others hit the mother and pushed her off forcibly. She lost balance and fell on the road. A speeding truck ran over, resulting in her death. The incident which caused a widespread angst and outrage across the state was taken note of by the court. Main perpetrator not accused no. 1 Following the shocking incident, women folk and civil societies took to streets to force the police to act against the accused. Dalit organisations also joined the cause under Andhra Pradesh Dalit Mahasabha founder general secretary Dr Kathi Padma Rao. They alleged that the police were reluctant to act as the main perpetrator Vammalaneni Nagaraju was the son of Janaki Ramachandra Rao, a former municipal vice-chairman and an active Congress leader. Rao is also the owner of the bar from the accused emerged to pounce upon the hapless mother and daughter. As the public anger grew, the police registered an FIR and arrested 8 persons under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. However, Nagaraju was shown as accused No. 8, and it enraged the people no end. The other accused were Meka Subrahmanyam, Garapati Vinod, Mopidevi Ramu, Shaik Jafar, Samudrala Pawankumar, Dasari Prasant and Maddala Kranti. The protesters demanded that Nagaraju be named accused No. 1. They alleged that political pressure was on the cops to go soft on the accused.

Fast-track court assured Meanwhile, Guntur District Collector S Suresh Kumar on Wednesday promised to refer Betala Kanta Suneela's murder case to fast track court for speedy trial. He met Suneela's husband, Babu Rao, a school teacher and his two daughters, Mounika and Kumeera and consoled them. He promised to get maximum help from the government and do justice to them S More reports: Page 9