'Had I not fired, I would have died'
HYDERABAD: The furore over the weekend courtesy a break-in at Jubilee Hills, which resulted in the death of a burglar, has raised a perplexing question: Is it okay to kill in self-defence? The house of maxillofacial surgeon, Dr Naresh Reddy, was broken into in the wee hours of Friday.
The burglars had forced their way into the house by breaking a window, made of toughened glass, with a granite stone. 'It sounded like an explosion,' claims Reddy.
According to him, the noise woke up his servants on the ground floor who in turn alerted him. He was sleeping in his bedroom on the first floor at the time.
A trained member of the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI) and also a licensed gun holder for the past 15 years, Reddy chased the assailants to the back porch and shot at them as they tried to jump over the railing.
'They attacked me with stones and a rod. I was hit on my shoulder (indicating his left shoulder blade). They had knives. In all probability, I would have been dead had I not tried to protect myself,' he recalls.
The events of the night are a bit of a blur to the doctor. But the fact that he was attacked and that he had taken a life ring out clear to him. 'The rounds in the gun are lead pellets that are used during target practice.
They aren't supposed to be fatal. But one of the pellets seem to have hit a vital organ. Until the postmortem, we won't really know. Nevertheless, I never thought the man would die. And, I thought these would be my last five minutes,' he explains.
Dr Naresh Reddy belongs to the Atmakur Samasthan in Warangal and has quite an interesting history. 'In our palace at Atmakur, we have a room just for keeping arms. I do have a collection of guns. Some have been passed down as per tradition, a few have been gifted by my uncle and brother and I have bought a few,' he says.
Reddy practises target shots from time to time. 'I have a farm house in Anantagiri and Chilkur. Sometimes, I practice there. As a member of the NRAI, it's only natural that I practice,' he points out.
News Posted: 3 October, 2011
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