In a tragic incident, a 26-year-old Dalit woman, Teja Sri, who worked as a beedi worker, lost her life on Monday after succumbing to severe injuries inflicted upon her by her ex-lover in Jakranpally, Nizamabad, Telangana. It is alleged that the accused, a 26-year-old chicken shop worker from the same neighbourhood, used to be in a relationship with Teja Sri.
The accused is identified as Imran/Ghouse/Toufiq by different news channels.
Owing to various reasons, Teja Sri avoided contact for a while. A V6 Telugu report suggests that she stayed away from him after he asked her to change her religion if they were to marry and the fact that he was a regular consumer of cannabis.
The harrowing incident unfolded on Saturday night 23 September when Teja Sri had said she was going to roll beedis. However, as the hours passed, her family grew concerned when she failed to return home. Around 11:30 p.m., they discovered her unconscious on the road near her aunt’s residence in Jakranpally. Teja Sri was immediately rushed to a hospital in Armoor and later transferred to the Nizamabad government hospital, where she was placed on ventilator support due to the severity of her injuries.
Initially, the accused attempted to evade responsibility by claiming that Teja Sri had jumped from his bike following an argument. However, after the victim’s family lodged a formal complaint against him, he confessed to assaulting her.
It is alleged that on the ill-fated Saturday, he asked her to step out of the house that fateful day, forcibly took her on his bike, to take her to a secluded location where he assaulted her. Her escape from the bike and subsequent attack led to her critical injuries.
Tragically, after admission to the hospital, Teja Sri’s condition deteriorated, and she ultimately succumbed to her injuries while undergoing treatment at a local private hospital on Monday, 25 September.
Various news media have been reporting this incident differently. Some indicate that investigations indicated that the dispute stemmed from suspicions of Imran regarding Teja Sri’s character, particularly related to her overnight stay during an outstation wedding. The police too, have brushed off the communal angle when there is one blatantly visible.
Speaking to news reporters, Teja Sri’s mother said, “I will have to take care of my other girl child”, after what happened to her elder child.
The police have registered a case and initiated a thorough investigation into the matter, with a manhunt launched to apprehend the accused. The failure of mainstream news media to report incidents as is and failure of the police to look at the communal angle, branding such heinous incidents as actions of a “jilted lover”, reduce the severity of the issue.
