Telangana minor student commits suicide on being harassed by police

Hyderabad: Alleged police harassment drove a 17-year-old youth to commit suicide in Mirzalaguda on Wednesday night. S. Tarun Yadav, a tele-caller in a private company, hanged himself minutes after he was released from the Lalaguda police station. The cops had picked him following a complaint by his friend about a phone snatching case and had allegedly beaten him. 

Yadav’s family alleged that the police had tried to extort money from him to settle the case. Yadav and his friend  Sandeep (19) were detained by the Lalaguda police on Wednesday in order to recover a phone and a tablet. They were picked up following a complaint by their friend, Susheel Kumar alias Nani, who alleged that the two had snatched his phone and a tablet two days ago. Although, Mr Kumar had requested the police to withdraw the case, the cops were apparently adamant that they would go ahead with the case, the relatives alleged. 

“Police stripped my brother, beat him black and blue and threatened to book various other cases. They asked him to pay Rs 15,000  by Thursday morning in order to avoid further police action. Fearing that he would not be able to pay the money, my brother hanged himself after he came home,” said the victim’s elder brother Shankar Yadav, adding that cops had already taken some money from Mr Sandeep’s family.