Hyderabad: Harassed by relative, lovers set themselves on fire in car, die

The two took the extreme step as they were fed up with the harassment and blackmailing by the girl's relative

Hyderabad: In a shocking incident, a man and a girl, who were in a relationship for the last five years, are suspected to have died by suicide after setting themselves on fire in a car at ORR Ghatkesar on Monday evening.

Parvatham Sriram, a resident of Bibinagar in Nalgonda district, worked at a cycle shop at Narapally municipality in Pocharam of Ghatkesar mandal. While working at the shop, Sriram met the girl and the two became close friends.

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When a relative of the girl, Chintu, got to know about their relationship, he took advantage of the situation and allegedly threatened to expose them. Chintu also began extorting money from Sriram, collecting Rs 1.35 lakh from him.

“In a suicide note purportedly written by Sriram, he alleged that Chintu and others threatened and demanded more money from them,” Ghatkesar Inspector P Parusharam said.

Fed up with the harassment and blackmailing, Sriram took a car from an acquaintance and drove to a slip road at Ghanpur village of Ghatkesar along with the girl. There, the couple doused themselves in fuel and set themselves ablaze inside the car, the police suspect.

Sriram, unable to bear the pain, started shouting and rushed out of the car. He collapsed on the pavement and died on the spot.

Passersby, who noticed the car on fire, alerted the nearby fire station and police. A fire tender was pressed into service and doused the flames.

The police found a girl’s body and suspect it to be that of Sriram’s girlfriend.

Initially, the police suspected that the two died in a car fire mishap.

Later, after Sriram’s relatives found the suicide note, purportedly written by him, in the house, they informed the police about it.

The police are now probing the allegations and are on the lookout for Chintu.

Sriram had also apologised to his family and told his brother to take care of them.

He stated that he was in a relationship with the girl for the last five years.

The clues team examined the car and the bodies were shifted to the mortuary for a post-mortem examination.