Warangal: Family members of Marri Pravalika, who died by suicide at a Hyderabad hostel allegedly following the cancellation of a series of government recruitment exams on October 13, were shifted to the city by the Narsampet police of Warangal on Tuesday.
Congress leader from Duggondi mandal, Ramesh, told Deccan Chronicle that on October 15, party senior leader Rahul Gandhi had sent a woman representative to Pravalika’s village of Bikkajipally of Duggondi mandal to ascertain the facts of the case.
Ramesh said that the party found that Pravalika had died by suicide due to the cancellation of Group-1 and Group-4 exams of the TSPSC, which she had appeared for.
Ramesh said that Rahul Gandhi, who will be visiting the state for the Vijayabheri bus yatra on Wednesday, was planning to visit Bakkajipally to console the family members.
He alleged that the BRS, anticipating this, had forcibly moved the family to Warangal on October 16 and then to Hyderabad on Tuesday. “It is learnt that the Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and IT minister K.T. Rama Rao will meet them personally and extend their support to the family,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pravalika’s mother, Vijaya, posted a video on social media on Tuesday, urging political leaders not to drag their family into politics and requesting the police to arrest the person who cheated Pravalika in a love affair.
Locals alleged that she may have come under pressure from BRS leaders to make the statement.
To quell dissent, locals claimed, the BRS got into a damage-control mode with local MLA Peddi Sudharshan Reddy and other leaders getting the family shifted from the village to Hyderabad.
Following Pravalika’s death, and subsequent protests, unemployed youths, student unions and people’s organisations had been thronging the family’s residence in Bikkajipally, demanding justice for the family.
Even during the final procession, a large number of students and members of the Kakatiya University Joint Action Committee staged a protest and tried to hinder the last rites, in a protest against the state government.
