Hyderabad: Swetcha Votarkar, well-known television host of a Telugu news channel, was found dead at her Hyderabad home in Jawahar Nagar.
According to police, Swetcha’s body was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her bedroom, raising suspicions that she had committed suicide.
However, since no suicide note was found, police and other investigating authorities are looking into all possibilities, including foul play.
According to Chikkadpally police inspector Raju Naik, cops received a call from Swetcha’s neighbours at around 9.30 pm on Friday about the incident.
“When we entered her room, she was found hanging from the ceiling fan,” Naik said.
“No suicide note has been found till now. A case of suspicious death was registered based on a complaint filed by Swetcha’s mother. Her body was then shifted to the Gandhi Hospital mortuary for autopsy,” the police inspector said.
Swetcha, who has a 13-year-old daughter, was divorced from her husband Kranthi Kiran in 2014.
She lived for a few years with her parents at their Ramnagar residence, post separation.
However, for the past four years, Swetcha was living with her daughter in a penthouse at Sheelam Residency in Jawahar Nagar.
“She was supposedly in a live-in relationship with a Purnachandar who stayed in the same house,” police said.
Swetcha, who worked in various Telugu television channels, was also very active in the Telangana movement and used to write poems.
For the last three years, she had been working for T-News television channel, promoted by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president K Chandrasekhar Rao’s family.
Both KCR and his son KTR expressed shock over the demise of Swetcha.
“Deeply saddened to hear about the unfortunate demise of Swetcha Votarkar, a fierce journalist, writer and a dedicated Telanganite. I am at loss a for words. My heartfelt condolences to her family, especially her daughter & her mother. And I hope they find the strength to deal with this horrific loss. Telangana has lost a very bright mind. To everyone reading this – if you ever feel that life is tough, please don’t hesitate to reach out to a professional. Life is meant to be lived and there is always support available,” KCR wrote on X.
