Boy killed by poisoned cold drink for threatening to reveal secret

Ravi saw Aparna and a minor together and warned that he would tell others about their illicit relationship.

Hyderabad: A 15-year-old Class 10 student in Khammam district died on November 8, two weeks after he was allegedly given a poison-laced cold drink. Police say a 19-year-old woman and a 14-year-old boy wanted to silence him.

The student, Jillela Ravi, was from Chinnakoru Konda village in Kalluru mandal. Kalluru Police have arrested the woman, Aparna, and the minor boy.

Silenced for what he saw

According to the police, Aparna, who was living apart from her husband, had been staying at her grandmother’s house in the village. She was in a relationship with the 14-year-old boy, who lived in the same village.

Ravi saw the two together and warned that he would tell others about it, the police said. To stop him, the two allegedly decided to kill him.

On the afternoon of October 24, they took Ravi to the outskirts of the village and offered him a cold drink laced with weedicide, the police said. When his condition began to worsen, the two panicked and ran away.

Told family before he died

Ravi’s family first took him to the government hospital in Khammam. There, he told them, and later the police, what had happened.

As his condition deteriorated, he was shifted to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Hospital in Warangal, where he died while undergoing treatment on November 8.

Murder case filed

Speaking to Siasat.com, Kalluru Sub-Inspector J Nagaraju said, “Based on Ravi’s statement, Aparna and her boyfriend were arrested on October 25 and booked for murder under Section 103 (1) of the BNS. On November 8, Aparna was sent to judicial custody and the minor was sent to the juvenile home.”

Because the boy involved with Aparna is a minor, the relationship itself could attract charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. It was not immediately clear whether police had registered such a case against her.