Hyderabad Tech Student Manideep Reddy Found Dead in Finland, Family Alleges Foul Play

An 18-year-old student from Hyderabad who went missing more than two months ago has been found dead in Finland. Following the recovery of his body, the student's family has raised concerns over the circumstances of his passing and is demanding a full investigation into what they describe as a suspicious death.

The student, identified as Manideep Reddy, was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Software and Systems Engineering at Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT University) at its Lahti Campus. He was last seen on May 5 at a shopping mall in Helsinki, and his body was recovered from the sea on Saturday.

Family Raises Questions

The family's lawyer, K.L.B. Kumar, stated that the family strongly suspects foul play and believes the death was not from natural causes. They are calling on Finnish authorities to thoroughly investigate the exact circumstances surrounding his disappearance and subsequent death.

Talking exclusively to Republic, Manideep’s mother, Mamata Reddy, says, “I have been saying from Day 1 that someone has trapped my son, he has been kidnapped. After 45 days, the police are saying they cannot find anything, there is nothing on CCTV. How can there be nothing? He cannot just vanish just like that.”

“They are hiding something about my son to protect the reputation of their country. I will fight the government of Finland, will get the Indian Embassy involved, I will not let this go,” she added, sobbing uncontrollably.

The family has also requested that the parents be permitted to travel to Finland to see his body. Additionally, their legal representative alleged that communication from the Finnish police regarding the search updates had dropped significantly since late May, leading to concerns that crucial details about the case were not being properly investigated or shared.

Timeline of Disappearance

Talking to the media, Manideep’s father, G. Muthyam Reddy, informed that the family last spoke with Manideep on May 5. During that final conversation, Manideep asked for some money, which his mother sent to him online. After that interaction, all communication ceased, and subsequent attempts by the family to reach him failed.

Information later shared by the Finnish police indicated that Manideep had traveled nearly 100 kilometers away from the apartment he shared with a friend before investigators lost track of his movements. Despite reaching out to his roommates, friends, and university authorities, the family was unable to gather any reliable information regarding where he went.

As weeks passed without any breakthrough, the family took legal action back home. The Telangana High Court stepped in, directing both the central and state governments to coordinate and help locate the missing student.

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