The Telangana High Court has ordered a fresh forensic assessment into the death of Lyadella Raju, a daily-wage worker whose body was found in the Geesugonda area of Warangal district in October 2025.
Justice T. Madhavi Devi issued the direction while hearing a petition filed by Raju’s wife, Lyadella Priyanka, who challenged the police decision to close the case after treating the death as natural.
The earlier forensic opinion, issued by an assistant professor in the Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Department of Kakatiya Medical College, concluded that Raju had died from sudden cardiac arrest and that the death was natural.
However, the petitioner pointed to injury marks visible on Raju’s body and in photographs submitted before the court. The post-mortem report had also recorded injuries.
Court seeks independent medical assessment
Police had reportedly sought a point-wise clarification from the earlier forensic expert regarding the injuries. The subsequent response continued to attribute the death to cardiac arrest but did not adequately address the specific concerns raised by the investigating authorities.
After examining the material placed before it, the High Court directed police to obtain a fresh expert opinion from the Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine at Osmania General Hospital in Hyderabad.
The concerned Assistant Commissioner of Police has been directed to forward the post-mortem report, photographs, previous forensic opinions and other relevant records to the Osmania General Hospital department for examination.
Three-month deadline
The fresh forensic assessment is to be completed within three months of the court order. Once the new opinion is received, police have been directed to take further action in accordance with law and provide a copy of the report to the petitioner.
The court’s order does not itself establish that Raju was murdered. Instead, it seeks a higher-level forensic examination to clarify the cause of death in light of the injuries documented in the available records.
The fresh medical opinion is therefore expected to play an important role in determining whether the earlier conclusion of natural death remains sustainable.
