JOIN USThe woman, Jyothi Rachana, was brought to Ongole (in Prakasam district) from Visakhapatnam along with her husband and two-year-old son on the suspicion that she might have kidnapped three missing women and sold one of them into prostitution.
District Superintendent of Police V Navinchand ordered the suspensions of a sub inspector, three constables and two Home Guards, after holding an initial enquiry into the events that resulted in Jyothi's death. A magisterial enquiry has also been ordered over the incident.
The Ongole SP office has stated that several rules have been violated in Jyothi's case. The Two Town police first arrested Jyothi on a Saturday, which meant that she cannot be produced before a magistrate for two days (Sunday and Monday, which was also a holiday on account of Ramzan).
She was locked up in a police station that had no women police. After Jyothi had hanged herself in the station, the police took her to a private hospital—where she was declared dead—instead of taking her to a government hospital. According to the police, Jyothi hanged herself in the police station at 10.30 pm, apparently unable to bear the humiliation caused by her arrest. The action came after protest by women’s organisation over Jyothi’s death.