Singareni intern dies by suicide alleging assault; family, Dalit organisations stage protest with body

A 21-year-old engineering student who was completing an internship with Singareni Collieries in Godavarikhani, Peddapalli district, died by suicide on September 14, days after allegedly naming a company supervisor as her assailant in a note, prompting her family and Dalit organisations to stage a sit-in protest with her body outside the corporation office.

According to her father's complaint to police, the student, who had completed her diploma in Godavarikhani before securing an engineering seat at Osmania University through ECET, had joined Singareni this year as an intern. During this period, she came into contact with Bommakanti Ravikumar, an overman at the company who reportedly told her he had studied at the same diploma college. Her family has alleged that Ravikumar sexually assaulted her during this time.

The family said the student had reported the matter to Singareni's management but received no response. She subsequently left the internship and began working at a computer centre in Godavarikhani, but continued to face harassment, allegedly from both Ravikumar and a polytechnic college teacher named Naveen, whom the family have also named as an accused. Distressed by the continued harassment, she attempted suicide and was undergoing treatment at a hospital before she died on September 14.

Based on her father's complaint, police have registered a case against Ravikumar and Naveen, who are currently absconding, and a search is underway to trace them.

The victim's parents are demanding action based on a note she is said to have written, in which she stated that despite reporting the alleged assault by Ravikumar to Singareni's management, no action was taken. Family members, led by Dalit organisations, staged a sit-in protest with her body on the road outside the corporation office, demanding accountability from the Singareni official they hold responsible for her death.