Woman dies in police custody

Hyderabad: The death of a woman detained by the Asifnagar police sparked tension on the police station premises here on Sunday with relatives describing it as murder and City Police Commissioner M Mahendar Reddy suspending seven police personnel, including the inspector, SI and ASI.

Relatives of the victim, Nakka Padma, 38, wife of late Rajam, a resident of Asifnagar, alleged that the accused had collapsed as he was unable to bear the torture unleashed on her by the police.

Sources said she was made to sit at the police station for hours together forcing her to complain of weakness and uneasiness in the night. Police shifted her to OGH after she fell unconscious on the station premises at



around 9.30 pm. She was declared dead by the doctors at around 5.30 am.

A case of custodial death under Section 176 (1) of the CrPC has been registered against the accused personnel, which would be inquired by a judicial magistrate. Relatives of the victim, Nakka Padma, 38, wife of late Rajam, a resident of Asifnagar, alleged that the accused had collapsed as he was unable to bear the torture unleashed on her by the police. Police said the woman with previous history of theft was picked up by the police at around 6 pm on Saturday from her residence in Asifnagar.

The actual cause of the death would be ascertained only after an autopsy, hospital authorities said.