A man and his wife who allegedly neglected his parents, sheltered them under a tarpaulin shed and eventually starved them to death last month, were booked for culpable homicide here on Monday.
The incident was investigated by Munagala police at Thummagudem village of Mothe mandal in the district, where the elderly couple Ramachandra Reddy, 90, and his 80-year-old wife Anasuyamma incidentally breathed their last on May 27. The final rites were performed silently without any delay and their bodies buried on the village outskirts. The event which caused a shock among the villagers, who also suspected something fishy as the elderly couple died the same day, was reported to the police prompting an investigation.
With the intervention of the Revenue department, the police later exhumed the bodies and a post-mortem was conducted. “The couple’s death was caused by lack of water and food, and they were exposed to extreme weather conditions,” the police said.
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Investigation reports of the police, which recorded statements of the Thummagudem villagers, also stated that the eldest son Nageswar Reddy and his wife Lakshmi had not been taking care of his parents and kept them under a tarpaulin-covered shed on the premises of the house. The senior couple had two sons, of whom one passed away, and a daughter. The eldest son and the youngest daughter-in-law agreed to look after them on turns every month. Munagala inspector Anjaneyulu and Mothe sub-inspector Praveen, who disclosed the details, said Nageswar Reddy and his wife were remanded to judicial custody.