Hours after the death of a 23-year-old unemployed woman in a private hostel in Hyderabad led to massive protests in the city late Friday night and saw hundreds hitting the street demanding justice for her, the Hyderabad police said on Saturday that she died by suicide due to personal reasons. Protesters claimed that the woman, identified as Warangal native M Pravalika, was frustrated with the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) Group 2 exams having been postponed in view of the coming Assembly elections. While the Congress called for statewide agitations, Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan directed the chief secretary, the director general of police, and the TSPSC secretary to send a detailed report within 48 hours on the incident. A senior police officer with the Hyderabad police told The Indian Express that the last person Pravallika spoke to before her death was a man who she was in a relationship with. The police collected her mobile phone for a detailed examination. Her roommates, police said, had gone out at the time of her death. “She was upset with her boyfriend over their relationship. She died by suicide at around 8.30 pm after talking to him,” the officer said. As news of her death spread, protesters laid siege to her hostel and prevented police from shifting the body until early Saturday morning. Pravallika was a native of Bikkajipally village in Duggondi Mandal in Warangal district. She had been staying in Hyderabad for the last two years and preparing for the TSPSC’s Group 2 exams. She moved into Brindavan Girls Hostel about two weeks ago and was scheduled to go home for Dussehra on October 22. According to officials, she had previously appeared for TSPSC Group 1 and Group 2 exams, but their results were cancelled over allegations of question paper leaks. The Group 2 exams scheduled for November 2 and 3 were postponed by the TSPSC on October 10, on account of the Assembly elections to be held in Telangana on November 30. On Saturday morning, after conducting a postmortem examination at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, Pravallika’s body was taken to her native village and the final rites were completed before noon. Reacting to her death, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said he was “deeply anguished”. “Thousands of young aspirants in Telangana are frustrated and enraged due to the rank apathy of the BRS government in conducting examinations. Youngsters of Telangana hold the corrupt, inept, and inefficient BRS government accountable and will oust it from power in the state,” he said on X. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said that if elected, the Congress government in Telangana would “release a job calendar, reorganise the TSPSC on the lines of UPSC in one month, and fill 2 lakh vacant government posts within a year”. After the protests erupted in Hyderabad Friday night, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy warned the state government against suppressing the case. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan urged unemployed youth not to lose hope. “Pravallika’s untimely demise is a poignant reminder of the challenges and pressures faced by young aspirants preparing for competitive exam,” Soundararajan said in a statement.
