A city court sent Purna Chandra Badavath, an accused in the suicide of TV news presenter Swetcha Votarkar, to judicial custody for 14 days.
Purna Chandra, who surrendered before police on Saturday night, was produced before a magistrate, who remanded him to judicial custody. He was later shifted to Chanchalguda Central Prison.
The police earlier recorded the statement of Purna Chandra, who is being allegedly blamed for the death of the news presenter.
Swetcha Votarkar (35) was found dead at her house at Jawaharnagar under the limits of Chikkadpally Police Station on Friday night. She had been living with her mother and school-going daughter in the penthouse of an apartment.
Swetcha’s daughter, who returned from school, grew suspicious when there was no response from inside, even after repeatedly knocking on the bedroom door.
Alerted by her, the neighbours forcibly opened the door and found Swetcha hanging from the ceiling fan. She was declared dead by paramedic staff who rushed to the spot with an ambulance.
A case of death under suspicious circumstances was registered at Chikkadpally Police Station based on a complaint filed by Swetcha’s parents.
They alleged that Purna Chandra had created circumstances that forced their daughter to commit suicide.
The accused was allegedly in a relationship with Swetcha, and on his advice, she had taken a divorce from her husband.
Purna Chandra and Swetcha had gone to Arunachalam and returned to Hyderabad three days ago. There was allegedly an argument between them after Swetcha insisted that they should get married.
The accused had reportedly refused to marry her, and citing his political connections, he had told her that she would not be able to do anything.
Swetcha had worked as a news anchor in many Telugu television channels. For the past three years, she had been working for T-New, a channel promoted by the family of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) President K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
