Hyderabad, February 17 The mother of the late Telugu actress Prathyusha said she respected the Supreme Court verdict on Tuesday, which upheld the two-year jail sentence for a man for abetting her daughter's suicide and ordered his surrender, although she felt that he should have been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Sarojini Devi, the mother of Prathyusha, whose death in 2002 caused a sensation, said that she and her son had not been able to come to terms with her daughter's death, despite the passage of time.
"My husband had passed away long ago. I was taking care of the family. She (Prathyusha) used to give me courage. But, she left us. We are not able to recover from her death," a sobbing Devi told news channels here.
She said that her daughter was actively involved in Telugu films and had also acted with leading stars in Tamil, such as Vijayakanth and Prabhu.
Devi alleged that evidence in her daughter's death had been manipulated.
She added that she would decide on her next course of action in the case after consulting with her lawyer.
The Supreme Court, while ruling out strangulation and rape, upheld the two-year jail sentence for Siddhartha Reddy, challenging his conviction for abetting the suicide of Pratyusha in 2002, and ordered him to surrender within four weeks.
Pratyusha died in Hyderabad on February 24, 2002.
According to the remand report, the gist of the case against Gudipalli Siddhartha Reddy is that he and Pratyusha had been in love for six years.
While the relationship was acceptable to Pratyusha's mother, Reddy's mother did not agree to the alliance, which led them to decide on suicide.
On February 23, 2002, both of them went in a car, purchased a pesticide bottle, mixed it in a drink, and consumed it. However, they ultimately decided that they should not die.
They drove to Care Hospital in Hyderabad. Despite the medical care, Pratyusha died while Reddy survived.
A bench comprising justices Rajesh Bindal and Manmohan also dismissed the plea filed by Devi, who alleged foul play in the death.