The Supreme Court of India has delivered a definitive judgment in the long-standing death case of Telugu actress Pratyusha, ruling that her death was caused by organophosphate poisoning and not manual strangulation. The Bench, comprising Justices Rajesh Bindal and Manmohan, dismissed appeals from both the accused, Gudipalli Siddhartha Reddy, and the deceased’s mother. While the court rejected the theory of homicide or sexual assault, it upheld Siddhartha Reddy’s conviction under Section 306 of the IPC for abetment of suicide, confirming the two-year prison sentence previously set by the High Court.
The apex court’s decision was heavily guided by scientific evidence and expert committees from AIIMS and the State Forensic Science Laboratory. Although the initial 2002 postmortem report suggested strangulation, subsequent investigations revealed that the autopsy surgeon had misinterpreted “therapeutic injuries” (medical marks from treatment) as signs of violence. The court noted that Pratyusha was conscious when admitted to the hospital and had personally informed doctors that she had consumed pesticide, a statement that consistently aligned with the forensic detection of insecticide in her internal organs.
With this ruling, the Supreme Court has put an end to decades of speculation regarding the nature of the actress’s death. The court observed that the convergence of multiple independent expert opinions “leaves no room for doubt” that the cause was poisoning. Gudipalli Siddhartha Reddy has been directed to surrender within four weeks to serve his remaining sentence. The court maintained the fine of ₹50,000 as enhanced by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, bringing a legal conclusion to one of the most high-profile cases in the Telugu film industry.
