Lone witness to mother’s murder in 1998,he sees story unfold again

The lone witness to the murder of his mother by serial killer and rapist Umesh Reddy,on whose life a Kannada biopic was released recently,Suresh was sent to school on many occasions with a police escort,especially after his mother’s killer escaped twice from police custody.

In 2006,as a 13-year-old class VIII student,Suresh had recounted before a trial court the evening his mother Jayashree was murdered — how he had returned home after playing outside to see a stranger leaving as his mother lay dead on the floor. This stranger had introduced himself as ‘Venkatesh Uncle’.

Based on the young Suresh’s deposition,of what he had seen as a five-year-old,Umesh Reddy,who is accused in as many as 21 cases of rape and murder across the country,is now on death row.

Over the years,Anantharam and Girija’s fears over the safety of their adopted son has reduced. With passage of time,what was once a very protected environment — with great care being taken to prevent Suresh from being exposed to stories of violence and crime to stop old memories from flooding in — has become more normal.

Suresh is today an MBA student and a BCA graduate with lots of happy friends and a family around him.

The murder of a single mother,a HR manager at an IT firm in Bangalore,at her residence in JP Nagar on August 1,in which her five-year-old daughter is the only witness,brought back memories of their own hard times for Suresh and his adopted parents.

Unlike Suresh,who was orphaned by his mother’s murder as his biological father,a doctor,had died earlier,the child in JP Nagar,who described her mother’s killer — a deep in debt cab driver according to the police — as a “bad uncle”,has a father and grandparents to support her.

“The important thing in my life was the fact that I was never made to feel afraid of what I had seen. No fear was transferred to me by my parents. I have always been in an happy environment. This was important especially when I was young. Now that I am more mature I can reflect on it,” says Suresh,who carries few mental scars from his traumatic childhood experiences.

“I have always tried to be happy. When I am not spending time talking to him (his foster father) I am with my friends. I have not had the time to be angry or afraid,” says Suresh.

According to Anantharam,creating an atmosphere of constant love and affection was important during the early years of the upbringing of Suresh. “We tried to ensure that he was always given a lot of affection and protected from slipping into any form of depression because of his experiences. It was important when he was a child,” says Anantharam. “We adopted Suresh because we did not have a child of our own and also because his biological father’s first wife was related to us. We have educated him,looked after him well and made sure he has few worries in this world.”