Dharavathi Preethi, a first year post-graduate medical student in the Anaesthesia department of Kakatiya Medical College (KMC) in Warangal, Telangana, is fighting for her life at Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad after a suspected suicide attempt. Police have arrested her senior, S. A. Saif, and charged him under the Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Anti-Ragging Act, as well as for her attempted suicide. Warangal Police Commissioner A.V. Ranganath has said that Saif subjected Preethi to targeted harassment and made insulting remarks about her in a WhatsApp group, which is classified as ragging under the Anti-Ragging Act. On February 18, Saif made a derogatory comment about a case sheet in the WhatsApp group, prompting Preethi to message him personally to object. She then told other students that Saif had insulted her by saying "you don't have brains." Ranganath suspects that Saif did not like Preethi questioning him, given the hierarchical culture of the medical
