An 18-year-old student from Hyderabad, who was missing for over two months, has been found dead in Finland. With the body now recovered, the student’s family has called for an investigation, describing his death as “suspicious”.
The student, identified as Mandeep Reddy, was last seen on May 5 at a mall in Helsinki, news agency PTI reported. The agency added, citing the family’s lawyer, that Reddy’s body was recovered from the sea on Saturday.
Reddy was pursuing a bachelor’s program in Software and Systems Engineering at Lappeenranta Lahti University of Technology (LUT University), Lahti Campus, Finland.
He was last seen in May
According to the student’s father, Reddy was last seen on May 5. Speaking to HT, the father, G Muthyam Reddy also mentioned that the last conversation he had with his son was on May 5.
“He asked for some money, and my wife Mamata sent it to him online. After that, he did not contact us. All our attempts to reach him since then have failed,” he said.
As the search for Reddy began, his family also took the matter to court, with the Telangana High Court calling on the central and state governments to trace the student’s whereabouts.
The father also added that information published by the Finnish police indicates that Mandeep traveled about 100 kilometers away from his residence, which he shared with a friend, before news investigators lost track of his movements.
“Despite inquiries with his roommates, friends and university authorities, no reliable information has emerged regarding his whereabouts,” he added.
Family demands investigation into “suspicious death” incident
Speaking to PTI, the student’s family called for a detailed investigation into the 18-year-old’s death.
The family’s lawyer, KLB Kumar, added that the family suspects foul play.
“We have a lot of doubts. After two months, the body was recovered. We strongly feel that it is a suspicious death and not a natural death,” Kumar said.
“We demand that the death be investigated properly. They (Finnish authorities) are supposed to investigate the circumstances under which the boy disappeared and how the death occurred,” he said, adding that the student’s parents should be allowed to go to Finland and see the body.
The lawyer also claimed that the Finnish authorities did not investigate the case “properly” and claimed that details were “concealed to make his death appear natural.”
It also comes after the lawyer claimed that Finnish police “ceased” communication with the parents regarding Reddy’s whereabouts on May 29, despite repeated emails, calls and efforts to obtain updates.
