Hyderabad: The Chikkadpally police have added a case under the Pocso Act, for crimes against a minor, against Purna Chandar Badhavath, who was arrested for the abetment to the suicide of TV anchor Shwetcha Votarkar, inspector B. Raju Naik told Deccan Chronicle.Purna was remanded to judicial custody on charges of abetment to suicide following a complaint from Votarkar’s father V. Shankar, who alleged that Badhavath had promised her marriage but broke it.According to the inspector, Badhavath surrendered before the police on Saturday night in the suicide abetment case. Following this, an FIR was registered against him under the BNS based on a complaint by the victim’s father. A separate FIR under the Pocso Act was also registered. “We are yet to record the statement of the minor. We are still investigating the Pocso case,” the inspector said.Just before his arrest, Badhavath had released a letter claiming he did not compel Votarkar to die by suicide and put the blame on her parents for not taking care of her since childhood. He also stated that he truly cared for the daughter of the victim and paid her school fee.Addressing the media, the victim’s daughter said, “He used to show love to my mother but misbehaved with me. I told my mother but she wanted me to look at him like a father figure. I never liked him but had to pretend to make my mother happy.”Speaking of the claim about paying the minor’s school fee, Votarkar’s father Shankar said, “He never paid the fee. She has been in the school for nine years. Swetcha and Purna were together for four years. We never liked him and if anything, the girl only suffered around him.”Shankar further alleged, “We never liked him and were always worried he’d hurt my daughter, but couldn’t convince her. When Swetcha confronted Purna about his behaviour towards her daughter, he said he was the same with his own kids too.”At 9.30 pm on Friday, Votarkar, TV anchor and Telangana activist, was found dead in her rented apartment in Jawaharnagar in Chikkadpally. She was married and had got divorced in 2014.After Swetcha’s parents learnt of her suicide, they lodged a complaint against Badhavath, her live-in partner for four years, alleging his actions led her to taking this extreme step.
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