Police arrest five in woman’s suicide case linked to loan harassment, sexual abuse

The Tadepalli police on Tuesday (August 19, 2025) arrested five men on charges of abetment to suicide, loan harassment, and sexual abuse following the death of a 37-year-old woman.

According to Guntur District SP S. Satish Kumar, the case was registered at Tadepalli Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The probe was conducted under the supervision of North DSP Murali Krishna, with Tadepalli CI Veerendra Babu leading the investigation.

Police said that in 2016, the deceased woman’s husband Addanki Jayakrishna Teja had borrowed ₹50,000 from accused Dukka Venugopal and Dukka Srinivasa Rao and later repaid the amount. But, the accused had allegedly extorted over ₹15 lakh till date in excess interest, seized blank cheques and promissory notes, and continued to threaten the couple with the help of associates.

The woman, a resident of Nulakpet village, consumed poison on August 14, 2025 and died the next day while undergoing treatment. In a suicide note purportedly written by her and video recordings found, she alleged that Venugopal and Sannidhi Bachi Prasad sexually harassed her, while others repeatedly humiliated and threatened her. Unable to bear the harassment, she said, she was taking the extreme step.

The police arrested the accused identified as Dukka Venugopal, 51, Dukka Srinivasa Rao, 45, Sannidhi Bachi Prasad, 43, Bankupalli Ramakrishna Sharma, 51, and Viswanadha Ravikumar, 52, on Tuesday morning. They were produced before court and remanded to judicial custody.