Police mishandling of case leads to murder in police custody

A woman was murdered by her husband inside a moving vehicle while being escorted by Zaheerabad Police, exposing serious lapses. The incident has sparked outrage over negligence and raised questions about accountability and custodial safety protocols

Sangareddy: The role of Zaheerabad police came under scrutiny after the murder of a woman by her husband, while being brought to the police station, after the woman allegedly eloped with her friend. The woman’s husband, who was travelling in the car along with a police constable whipped out a knife and plunged it into her throat killing her.

The technical custodial death brought into sharp focus the role of Zaheerabad police, which allowed the assailant husband to sit along with the woman and their relative in the rear seat. The police constable accompanying them was in the front passenge seat when the gruesome murder took place.

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The assailant Sidda Reddy (35) and his wife Kavitha (29), were living in Zaheerbad after their marriage in 2014. The couple had a nine-year-old daughter and six-year-old son. While Sidda Reddy was running a roadside chat busines, Kavitha used to do some tailoring work at home to support the family.

Kavitha, an active user of social media, reportedly befriended one Pavan Kumar Reddy (32). One day, Sidda Reddy and his children did not find Kavitha in bed after waking up on March 28 morning. After all his efforts to trace Kavitha failed, Sidda Reddy lodged a complaint in Zaheerabad town police station.

After tracking her location in Jadcherla in Mahabubnagar district, Inspector Shivalingam assigned the job of bringing Kavitha back to constable Khadeer. Khadeer and Sidda Reddy went to Jadcherla in a rented car on Sunday.

After tracking Kavitha and Pavan, the police counselled them in Jadcherla police station on Monday. However, Kavitha reportedly refused to live with Sidda Reddy again. When the counselling session turned into an argument, the police asked Sidda Reddy to sit outside the police station.

The irate Sidha bought a knife then. However, the police convinced Kavitha to visit Zaheerabad, but she insisted that Pavan should also accompany her so that they can live together with her two children.

In a shocking decision, constable Khadeer made Sidda Reddy to sit in the middle of Kavitha and Pavan in the back seat. Feeling humiliated with the elopement of his wife and her words during the counselling session, Sidda Reddy plunged the knife into her throat when the car reached Nandikandi on NH-65 in Sadasivapet mandal on Monday. Khadeer and Pavan had little time to save her. She died while she was being rushed to the government hospital in Sangareddy.

While Kavitha died, Sidda Reddy was sent to remand. As he expected to get the sentence after trial, there was none to look after their two innocent children. Everyone is blaming the police for mishandling the entire case. However, Superintendent of Police Paritosh Pankaj had not initiated any action against the Inspector or the constable so far.