As colleagues hesitate, locals refuse help, AP woman police officer carries beggar's corpse for over one kilometre

The incident occurred on Monday at Adivikothuru village near Kasibugga town where Sirisha is posted as a sub-inspector

With her unflinching commitment towards duty and humanity, a woman sub-inspector of Andhra Pradesh police has become a role model for her fellow staff and the society at large.

Kotturu Sirisha (27) carried an uncared-for and unclothed dead body of an aged person lying in the fields, on her shoulders for over a KM, with the aid of a volunteer at the other end of the stretcher, as her colleagues hesitated and locals refused to lend a helping hand for the last rites.

“The body is of an unidentified beggar, about 70 years old, and was lying in a ditch. As the villagers were unwilling to come forward to shift the body for cremation, I called for the help of a charitable trust I am associated with. I could have ordered my men but did not want to compel them in such jobs associated with certain social stigmas,” Sirisha told DH.

“As I do not carry such notions, I took the initiative. For me, even a dead body is a representation of the almighty. Besides, it was my duty. I could not leave the body there like that,” the 2017 batch officer says.

A short video clip of Sirisha carrying the body trudging along the fields became viral, with the AP home minister M Sucharita and DGP Gautam Sawang lauding the policewoman's humanitarian effort and work commitment.

“I am overwhelmed by the response, appreciation now. But there are incidents when I picked up the smashed body parts of road accident victims. In comparison, what I did now is much less agonizing,”

The SI says that her inspiration in such situations comes from the teachings of her father — a mason.

Sirisha with the help of the volunteers carried the body to the nearest motorable point from where the trust's vehicle transported the beggar's body for cremation. The SI suspects the person's death could be due to starvation.