Visakhapatnam: Suspecting foul play in the death of their 27-year-old daughter, Parupudi Radha Gayatri, at a homestay at Mussoorie, her parents on Friday approached the police here seeking a comprehensive investigation into the suspicious death. They do not rule out foul play by son-in-law Sricharan Somayajula. The parents alleged that Sricharan’s behaviour raised serious concerns.
Radha Gayatri, a native of Vizag, worked at an IT firm in Gurgaon. She travelled with her husband, Sricharan, an IT professional in Pune and native of Vizag, to Kiana Homestay Tipridhar. Gayatri was later found lifeless under suspicious circumstances on June 14. Sricharan’s family has been living in Delhi for the past few decades.
Gayatri’s father Parupudi Sudhakar, an ex-serviceman, and mother Satyavati said Gayatri and Sricharan were married on November 8, 2025. At the time of marriage, Sricharan was working in Pune, and Gayatri was working in Hyderabad. Recently, she joined a new company in Gurgaon and stayed at her in-laws’ residence in East Kidwai Nagar, Delhi.
Sricharan monitored Gayatri movements and, without her knowledge or consent, allegedly placed a tracking device in her laptop bag. He frequently questioned her about her colleagues and made baseless allegations of extramarital relationships, subjecting her to mental harassment, said Sudhakar. He said Gayatri noticed the tracking device in her bag.
Ever since the marriage, Sricharan displayed extreme suspicion and controlling tendencies. While they were residing in Hyderabad, he monitored CCTV footage of their residence with the assistance of the watchman to track visitors, Sudhakar added. After her relocation to Delhi, he would insist on video calls during her travel in office cabs and even during working hours, demanding to see her surroundings and colleagues. This behavior interfered with her professional responsibilities and caused significant emotional distress, Sudhakar added.
According to Sudhakar, he portrayed himself as a caring and respectable husband in the presence of elders, concealing his actual conduct. His actions reflect excessive control, deep mistrust, and psychological abuse, which may have contributed to her mental suffering. Despite repeatedly questioning Sricharan regarding the circumstances surrounding the death of Gayatri, he failed to provide any clear information and remained silent. “We requested him several times over many hours, but he was unable or unwilling to reveal the facts”, he said.
“My daughter wanted to visit Vizag this month and wanted to stay at least two months with us citing she wanted to discuss so many things with me, but my daughter was found lifeless and I have suspicion over the role of Sricharan in her death”, Satyavati said.
She said on June 14 (around 1.36 am), they received a selfie of Sricharan and Gayatri from Sricharan from their Mussoorie vacation and at 8 am received a call from Sricharan saying Gayatri was dead.
Though Sricharan told Mussoorie police that they consumed alcohol on June 13 night and went to their room at around 3.30 am (June 14), the fact is that Gayatri never consumed alcohol and his different versions raised suspicion, said P Ravi, one of the relatives of Gayatri.
Meanwhile, Gayatri’s funeral was conducted at Mamidipalem under Jami mandal in Vizianagaram district.
Speaking to TOI on phone Mussoorie station-in-charge, Devender Singh Chauhan said they have collected all the evidence from the homestay to determine the sequence of events and are waiting for the postmortem report to establish the exact reason for the death.
The police also found some medicines, glasses and bottles at the spot and collected all the material as evidence. The viscera have been preserved during autopsy and sent for toxicological analysis to establish what Gayatri had consumed before her death. Relatives said they suspect that Sricharan might have offered certain medicines laced with alcohol to Gayatri, which they believed led to her death.
