Helsinki, Finland (AP photo)
NEW DELHI: The body of an 18-year-old Hyderabad-based student who went missing in Finland in May has been recovered from the sea in Helsinki, according to an email sent by the Indian Embassy in Finland to his family.The embassy informed the family on Friday that Finnish authorities had confirmed the recovery of Manideep Reddy’s body, family lawyer KLB Kumar said on Saturday.Manideep was pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Software and Systems Engineering at Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT University), Lahti Campus, and was staying in Lahti.According to Kumar, the student was last seen at a shopping mall in Helsinki on May 5 before he went missing.The family, however, has raised serious questions over the circumstances surrounding his death.”We have many doubts. After two months, the body has been recovered. We strongly feel that it is a suspicious death and not a natural death,” Kumar said, alleging that the case had not been properly investigated.He further claimed that the Finnish government was deliberately withholding crucial information and attempting to portray the case as a natural death. “The Finnish government is intentionally suppressing many facts/things in covering up the whole issue as a natural death,” Kumar alleged.According to him, Manideep’s parents believe something may have happened to their son on the day he disappeared, and they remain devastated by the lack of answers.Kumar urged the Central government to facilitate the parents’ travel to Finland so they could identify the body and seek clarity about the circumstances surrounding his death.”We demand that the death should be investigated properly. They (Finnish authorities) are supposed to investigate the circumstances under which the boy disappeared and how the death occurred,” he said.He also alleged that while Finnish police initially shared brief updates after a missing person’s case was registered, all communication abruptly stopped after May 29.Earlier, on June 19, Manideep’s father, Gujja Muthyam Reddy, had said that a friend of his son from Delhi had lodged a complaint with the Finnish police at the family’s request.He had alleged that despite repeatedly sending emails, making phone calls and continuously seeking updates, the family received no response from Finnish authorities after May 29 and was left completely in the dark about the progress of the investigation.The family has now demanded a thorough probe into the case, maintaining that the circumstances surrounding Manideep’s disappearance and death remain unexplained.
