Saif, prime accused in Dr Preethi's death, gets bail

WARANGAL: Dr Mohammad Saif, the prime accused in the death by suicide of medical postgraduate student Dr Dharavath Preethi of Kakatiya Medical College in February, was granted bail on Thursday.

While Preethi’s death was termed as ‘mysterious’, Dr Saif had been held responsible for harassing his junior and abetting her suicide, while she was discharging duty at the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital.

Saif was booked under IPC sections for ragging and under sections of the SC/ST Atrocities Act, and lodged in the Khammam jail.

Subsequently, Saif had filed a bail plea in March, which came for a hearing after a one-and-a-half-month delay.

On Thursday, the court granted conditional bail seeking personal bonds of Rs 10,000 and two sureties, with Saif also directed to appear before a liaison inquiry officer every Friday, between noon and 2 pm, for the next 16 weeks.

Further, the court warned Saif against threatening the family members of Dr Preethi or undertaking any activity that would affect them. In case of a violation, the police were directed to immediately arrest him.

Meanwhile, the police are yet to conclude how Preethi died, even as Warangal police commissioner A.V. Ranganath had recently stated that they would come to a decision based on Preethi’s post-mortem examination report.

Preethi’s family members expressed concern, questioning why the health department officials were not submitting the autopsy report to the police, even as two months have elapsed since her death.