Suryanarayana’s wife Manjula being consoled by Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy after her husband was killed. (File picture)

Hyderabad, Aug. 28: The daughters of K. Suryanarayana, the telecom engineer killed by the Taliban in April, have had to drop out of school because the family hasn’t received a paisa of the promised Rs 20-lakh compensation.

Suryanarayana’s wife Manjula says the government, after building the victim up almost as a martyr, had cooled off towards the family as soon as allegations of adultery surfaced against him.

The state and the Centre had each pledged Rs 5 lakh while Suryanarayana’s Bahraini employer, the Al Moyaed telecom company, was to pay Rs 10 lakh.

“I have knocked on the doors of the chief minister’s house and also the secretariat. But I didn’t get an appointment. The company refuses to accept any claims. Even the Prime Minister’s Office hasn’t responded,” Manjula told a local TV channel.

When chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy visited her home after the news of her husband’s murder in Afghanistan was confirmed, he had said: “The entire nation has condemned the barbaric incident and everybody in Andhra Pradesh feels it as a personal tragedy.”

But after a “second wife”, G. Swapna, surfaced with the demand for a share of the compensation for herself and her one-year-old child, allegedly fathered by Suryanarayana, the Centre withdrew the offer of a state funeral for the slain engineer.

The state government and even many friends stayed away from the 13th-day ritual.

Swapna’s claims shook the family, too, with Manjula attempting suicide by drinking acid. A month later, when Swapna began a fast before the house to force the family to accept her, the engineer’s father, K. Chandrasekhar, suffered a heart attack.

Manjula was discharged in July but her father-in-law is still in hospital.

“My daughters have stopped going to their convent school because I can’t afford the fees any more,” Manjula said. Anisha and Manisha studied in class IX and V; their toddler brother Satyateja is too young to go to school.

Suryanarayana

A state law ministry official explained, “We are unable to decide on compensation and grant of job because of the controversy and the claims by his two families.”

Swapna has approached a family court for a stay on payment of compensation to Manjula but her petition hasn’t been admitted yet. She had earlier filed a police complaint staking claim to a share of the money and Suryanarayana’s properties but was advised to settle the matter in court.

The police told her if her claim was correct, both she and Suryanarayana were guilty of a criminal offence by marrying illegally.