New Delhi: The Supreme Court has held that the death of Telugu actress Prathyusha was caused by organophosphate poisoning and not manual strangulation, while affirming the conviction of Gudipalli Siddhartha Reddy under Section 306 of the IPC for abetment of suicide.
In a detailed judgment delivered by a Bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal and Manmohan, the apex court dismissed the appeals filed by the accused as well as by the mother of the deceased, who had sought to press allegations of rape and homicidal strangulation.
Observing that the deceased was conscious at the time of admission and had herself informed doctors that she had consumed pesticide, the Justice Bindal-led Bench held that the allegation of manual strangulation was “wholly unsustainable”.
The appeals challenged a decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court delivered on December 28, 2011, which reduced the sentence awarded to the accused for the offence under Section 306 IPC to two years while enhancing the fine to Rs 50,000.
The controversy stemmed from the postmortem report dated February 25, 2002, prepared by Dr B. Muni Swamy, who opined that the cause of death was “pressure over the neck, asphyxia due to manual strangulation,” while preserving viscera for chemical analysis.
However, the Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory (AP FSL) report detected organophosphate insecticide poison in the internal organs of the deceased and the stomach wash samples. Subsequently, a three-member expert committee constituted by the state government concluded that the cause of death was organophosphate poisoning and found no evidence of manual strangulation or sexual assault.
The panel categorically stated: “The cause of death is due to Organophosphate Poisoning. There is no evidence of death due to manual strangulation. There is no evidence of sexual assault prior to her death.”
It further observed that the autopsy surgeon had “misinterpreted the therapeutic injuries as the injuries caused by violence,” adding that he “should have exercised restraint before expressing the opinion, contrary to the Inquest Report.”
The probe, later transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, led the Central agency to seek expert opinion from AIIMS.
The AIIMS committee of doctors opined on May 2, 2002: “After perusal of all the documents and photographs forwarded to us, we are of the considered opinion that the cause of death of the deceased Miss S. Pratyusha was Organophosphorus poisoning.”
On the allegation of strangulation, the AIIMS panel said: “The Observations recorded in PM report no 434/2002 dated 25.2.2002 do not appear to be indicative of manual strangulation. The Opinion given in the PME Report appears to be based on a misinterpretation of injuries produced by therapeutic procedures.”
It also ruled out sexual assault, stating that the PM report, APFSL report and photographs “do not indicate any evidence of sexual assault in this case.”
After analysing the medical, forensic and expert evidence, the Supreme Court noted the clear divergence between the initial postmortem opinion and subsequent scientific reports.
Referring to the AIIMS report, the top court recorded that the autopsy surgeon “seems to have misinterpreted the findings to conclude that the cause of death was Manual Strangulation” and that it “appears to have been an error of judgement on the part of the Autopsy Surgeon.”
The Justice Bindal-led Bench observed that there was “no evidence of sexual assault” and that the medical material consistently supported death due to organophosphate poisoning. It held that the convergence of independent expert opinions “leaves no room for doubt” that the death was due to poisoning.
While upholding the conviction under Section 306 IPC, the Supreme Court did not interfere with the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s decision reducing the sentence to two years’ imprisonment with enhanced fine.
“The present appeals being bereft of merits are dismissed, but with no order as to costs. The appellant (Gudipalli Siddhartha Reddy) is directed to surrender within four weeks,” ordered the Justice Bindal-led Bench.
(IANS)
