Missing Finland Hyderabad Teen Body Sea Family Demands Probe

The body of an 18-year-old student, Manideep Reddy Gujja, from Hyderabad who went missing in Finland in May was recovered from the sea in Helsinki, his family’s lawyer, KLB Kumar, told The Indian Express on Sunday. The lawyer said the case raised several doubts and alleged that it was not “investigated properly”.

The Indian embassy in Finland communicated this to Manideep’s family on July 10, after local authorities informed the embassy that the body had been found in the sea in Helsinki.

Manideep was pursuing a Bachelor’s programme at Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT University), Lahti Campus, Finland. He was living in Ritaniemenkatu, Lahti.

The last sighting of the teenager was at a shopping mall in Helsinki, about 100 kilometres from his residence in Lahti. Police in Finland found a CCTV image of him walking along the aisles of the shopping centre on May 5. He was not seen since then.

His parents, Mamata Reddy and G Muthyam Reddy, had approached the Telangana High Court, seeking directions to authorities to trace their son.

According to his parents, Manideep asked had asked them for Rs 5,000 on May 5. “He called me to ask for this small amount of money, and I transferred it,” his mother said. Since then, using about Rs 2,500, he travelled for over 100 kilometres by bus and reached Helsinki, Finnish police found. The reason for the journey remains a mystery.

In Helsinki, he was seen having a bite at an eatery and walking into a shopping mall. His phone became unreachable shortly afterwards. “We don’t know what happened to him,” his mother had earlier told The Indian Express.

Manideep had moved to Finland in 2025 to study engineering. “We thought that he would come back and do well in a good job,” his mother had said.

The family’s lawyer said the case “was not properly investigated” and that the recovery of the body after two months raises several doubts. “We have many doubts. After two months, the body has been recovered. We believe that it is a suspicious death,” Kumar said. The parents believe that something untoward happened to him on May 5, the day he went missing, the lawyer said.

The lawyer requested the Union government to help the parents to go to Finland and make enquiries and see the body. “We demand that the death should be investigated properly. Finnish authorities should investigate the circumstances under which the boy disappeared and how the death occurred,” the lawyer said.

Nikhila Henry is an Assistant Editor at The Indian Express, based in Hyderabad. With a career spanning 17 years, she has established herself as an authoritative voice on South Indian affairs, specialising in the complex intersections of politics, education, and social justice. Experience & Career: Nikhila commenced her journalism career in 2007 as an education correspondent for The Times of India in Hyderabad,where she gained recognition for her coverage of student politics. Her professional trajectory includes a four-year tenure at The Hindu, where she focused on minority affairs and social welfare. In 2019, she took on a leadership role as the South Bureau Chief for The Quint, where she directed regional coverage across all five South Indian states. Her expansive career also includes a tenure at the BBC in New Delhi and contributions to prestigious international outlets such as The Sunday Times (London) and HuffPost India. Expertise & Focus Areas Nikhila’s reportage is marked by a deep-seated understanding of grassroots movements and institutional policy. Her core focus areas include: Regional Politics: Comprehensive analysis of the socio-political dynamics across South India. Education & Student Movements: Chronicling the evolution of Indian academics and the rise of youth activism. Minority Affairs: Rigorous reporting on the welfare, rights, and challenges facing marginalized communities. National Beat: Elevating regional stories to national prominence through investigative and on-ground reporting. Authoritativeness & Trust A respected figure in Indian media, Nikhila is not only a seasoned reporter but also an accomplished author and editor. She authored the critically acclaimed book The Ferment: Youth Unrest in India and edited Caste is Not a Rumour, a collection of writings by Rohith Vemula. Her dual background in daily news reporting and long-form authorship allows her to provide readers with a nuanced, historically-informed perspective on contemporary Indian society. Find all stories by Nikhila Henry here. ... Read More