Two Months After Going Missing, Hyderabad Student's Body Found in Finland, Family Demands Fresh Probe

The body of an 18-year-old engineering student from Hyderabad, who had been missing in Finland since May, has been recovered from the sea in Helsinki, the Indian Embassy in Finland has informed his family. The family, however, has disputed the identification and demanded a thorough probe, alleging that the death is being wrongly projected as natural.

The embassy conveyed the development in an email sent on Friday, confirming that Finnish authorities had located the body of Manideep Reddy, a resident of Hayathnagar, Hyderabad. The family's lawyer, KLB Kumar, said on Saturday that the confirmation came more than two months after Manideep went missing.

Manideep was pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Software and Systems Engineering at Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, at its Lahti campus, and was residing in the city. According to his lawyer, he was last seen at a shopping mall in Helsinki on May 5, after which all contact with him ceased.

Finnish police have said that a body recovered from the sea in Helsinki's Kruunuvuorenranta area on July 9 was identified as Manideep's, based on personal belongings found with it, including his Finnish identity card, Indian currency, and a bank card belonging to his mother. Investigators have said the National Bureau of Investigation is examining the cause of death and that, at present, there is no indication of foul play.

The family has rejected this version. Manideep's father, Mutyam Reddy, has reportedly claimed the body recovered is not his son's, contradicting the police's assertion that identification was established through the belongings found.

"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, adding that the family believes something happened to Manideep on May 5 itself, the day he was last seen.

Kumar alleged that Finnish authorities had not properly investigated the case and were withholding crucial information. "The Finnish government is intentionally suppressing many facts in covering up the whole issue as a natural death," he alleged, demanding that the circumstances of the disappearance and death be investigated afresh.

According to investigators, Manideep had arrived at Helsinki's Central Railway Station on the evening of May 5, later visiting a burger outlet before being caught on CCTV footage at a supermarket in Kruunuvuorenranta around 8 pm. His mobile phone was switched off soon afterward, and he was never seen again.

The family has said that Manideep had spoken to his mother shortly before he disappeared and had asked her to transfer money to his account. Speaking earlier to a news channel, his mother, Mamata Reddy, said she had believed from the outset that her son had been trapped or kidnapped, questioning how the local police could find no leads despite weeks of investigation. She alleged that authorities were concealing information to protect the country's reputation and said she would not relent until she got answers.

The family's counsel has urged the Central government to facilitate the parents' travel to Finland so that they may examine the case directly and view the body. He said Finnish authorities were obligated to establish the exact circumstances in which Manideep disappeared and died, and that the investigation so far had fallen short of that standard.

Mutyam Reddy had earlier said that a friend of his son, who hails from Delhi, had lodged a complaint with Finnish police at their request. He had claimed that all communication from the authorities had abruptly stopped after May 29, despite his repeated emails and calls seeking updates.

The case has drawn attention to the safety of Indian students abroad and the difficulties families face in getting timely information from foreign authorities. With the identification itself now contested, the family's demand for an independent inquiry is likely to remain at the centre of the case, as pressure builds on Indian and Finnish authorities to clarify the circumstances of Manideep's death.

Inputs from TOI