Andhra medico run over by drunk youths with car succumbs

A medico, who was critically injured after being run over by two drunk youths with their car at a mall in Andhra Pradesh’s Rajamahendravaram on August 3, succumbed at a hospital in Hyderabad on Sunday.

K. Priyanka, a first-year postgraduate medical student, was pronounced dead by doctors at KIMS Hospital, Secunderabad. She breathed her last at 3.25 p.m.

A native of Telangana’s Jogulamba Gadwal district, she was pursuing a Doctor of Medicine (MD) course at the GSL Medical College in Rajamahendravaram in Andhra Pradesh's East Godavari district.

Dr Priyanka, 28, was coming out of the mall with her friend Umesh on a scooty on the night of August 3 when a speeding car rammed into their two-wheeler.

She sustained grievous injuries and was admitted to a local hospital and later shifted to Hyderabad. She had been on a ventilator since then. Doctors had already declared her brain-dead.

After the postmortem examination, the medico’s body will be shifted to Eklaspur village in Gadwal district for last rites.

Earlier in the day, the police had announced that a case of attempt to commit culpable homicide has been registered against Suravarapu Daswanth and Andrew Joseph Edwards, who rammed their car into her two-wheeler.

The two youths, who were allegedly under the influence of alcohol, rammed the car into the scooty.

East Godavari district Superintendent of Police D. Narasimha Kishore told the media on Sunday that a case under section 110 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered against the accused.

He stated that depending on the situation, the police will invoke more stringent provisions to seek the harshest punishment for the guilty.

With the medico succumbing on Sunday, the police will now alter the section to culpable homicide.

Police investigation revealed that the accused hit the scooty with their car thrice while trying to flee after assaulting mall staff.

The SP said the mall staff had not allowed Daswanth and Joseph into the mall as they were found drunk. The accused had an argument with the staff and assaulted them. When the mall security personnel tried to catch them, they tried to escape. They drove the car in a rash manner and at a high speed, ramming the scooty at the mall’s gate.

After running over the medico with their car, the accused fled the scene. An injured Priyanka was rushed to a local hospital. The police received the information from the hospital at 10 p.m.

Based on the statement of Umesh, police registered a case and arrested the accused.

The SP made it clear that there is no political pressure on the police. He said on the direction of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, police were investigating the case in an impartial manner.

Earlier, Priyanka’s father Venkatesh met the police officers and sought stringent action against the accused. He told the media that the assurances given by the police cleared his doubts.

He said they have full faith in the police investigation and judiciary and hoped that they will get justice.