Parvati files defamation complaint

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, AUG. 8. Mrs. Lakshmi Parvati, wife of the late N. T. Rama Rao, filed a complaint of criminal defamation against Prof. Kakarla Subba Rao, Director, Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), before the Fifth Metropolitan Magistrate here on Wednesday.

She said that Prof. Subba Rao had knowingly made imputations against her and N. T. Rama Rao in his yet-to-be released autobiography, ``A Doctor's Story of Life & Death,'' which directly and indirectly lowered her moral character besides hurting her feelings as NTR's widow.

Mrs. Parvati broke down in the crowded courtroom while making her sworn statement before the Magistrate, Mr. M. Gandhi Babu, who fixed August 17 as the date on which he would decide whether to take cognizance of the complaint and pass the necessary orders. She said she was being hounded ever since NTR's death.

Her counsel, Mr. K. R. Raman, said Mrs. Parvati had not sought any monetary compensation from Prof. Subba Rao but wanted him punished under Sec. 500 of the Indian Penal Code (punishment for defamation), which carries a fine and imprisonment or both. He said that the relevant extracts of the book as well as reports published in newspapers had been submitted to the court.

In her complaint, Mrs. Parvati said the author of the book had defamed NTR, too, by suggesting that he was a person of weak mind, had no individuality and no discretion to judge what was good or bad for him. This was evident from his `derogatory statement' that ``things, meanwhile, started changing with NTR. The new wife wove her web around him.''

Quoting other excerpts in which she is accused of `meddling with every decision' taken by NTR, she said that she had never meddled or interfered with the decisions taken by NTR. She held that this was a defamatory statement as it sought to project her as a vicious person responsible for NTR's downfall.

Mrs. Parvati maintained that there was no truth in the statement that NTR was taking steroids to improve his virility.

Denying that NTR died without getting any medical assistance, she said Prof. Subba Rao had held her guilty of causing NTR's death by wilfully not calling any doctor. She said she called Dr. Mahalakshmi and Dr. B. Somaraju besides telephoning emergency services as soon as she saw him in severe pain.

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