The Chikkadpally police of Hyderabad arrested Purnachander Rao in the television journalist Swetcha Votarkar death case on Sunday. Rao was detained and taken into custody in the early hours of Sunday after he appeared before them with his lawyer.
Police have altered the case from a suspicious death to one of abetment to suicide and have also invoked relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Officials declined to reveal the specific nature of the POCSO charges, citing Supreme Court guidelines.
Swetcha Votarkar, 40, was found dead at her residence in Jawahar Nagar on Friday. She is survived by her 13-year-old daughter. Her body was discovered hanging in her home, and the initial case was registered as a suspicious death pending the post-mortem report from Gandhi Hospital.
The case took a turn after Swetcha’s father, Shankar Votarkar, alleged that Purnachander Rao had been harassing his daughter for the past three years under the pretext of marriage.
Following the family’s formal complaint naming Purnachander Rao as responsible for Swetcha’s death, police took up the investigation, which has now led to his arrest. The probe is ongoing.
Meanwhile, Rao’s advocate in this case, Sravan Kumar, addressed the media outside the Chikkadpally police station on Sunday and said that he was booked under sections 69 (sexual intercourse with false promise of marriage) and 109 (abetment of suicide) of the BNS Act. “Another FIR was booked under sections of POCSO Act based on a statement by Swetcha’s daughter. Rao’s statement on this is that he looked after the child as his own daughter and that there is proof of him admitting her to school and paying for her birthday celebrations etc. He said that he was warned not to come to her funeral by people,” said the advocate.
(Roshini suicide prevention helpline numbers are: 8142020033/44 and 040 66202000/2001.)
Published – June 29, 2025 06:31 pm IST