VIJAYAWADA: Tension prevailed at Ponduru village in Tanguturu mandal of Andhra Pradesh’s Prakasam district after the parents and relatives of Addagalla Keerthi (24), a software engineer who allegedly died by suicide following an alleged love failure, brought her body to the residence of her boyfriend, Sai Sumanth, demanding that he tie a mangalsutra around her body before her last rites were performed.Keerthi, a native of Kondrupadu village in Prathipadu mandal of Guntur district, met Sai Sumanth, a resident of Ponduru, through social media. The two had been in a relationship for the past eight years.On July 14, Keerthi allegedly died by suicide by hanging herself in her PG hostel room in Mumbai after Sai reportedly refused to marry her.According to Tanguturu police, Keerthi’s family claimed that before taking the extreme step, she had expressed her last wish to have her body cremated in her boyfriend Sai Sumanth’s native village of Ponduru.Police said Keerthi’s parents and relatives arrived in Ponduru with her body from Mumbai on Thursday, demanding that Sai tie a mangalsutra around her body and allow them to perform her last rites in the village in accordance with her alleged final wish.“A scuffle broke out between the family members of Keerthi and Sai, as Sai, who is employed as a hardware engineer in Qatar, was not present at his residence in Ponduru. Keerthi’s family members staged a dharna in front of the house with her body, demanding that Sai return and tie the knot. After Sai’s family members agreed to allow her last rites to be performed in Ponduru, Keerthi’s family members finally conducted the cremation in the village,” Tanguturu SI Phani Bhushan told TOI.The SI said Mumbai Police had registered a case in connection with Keerthi’s death by suicide.
