Anantapur: A 22-year-old man raped a three-year-old tribal girl, killed her and buried her body in Yanadi Colony of AM Puram village in Vadamalapeta mandal of Tirupati district on Friday. The incident came to light after the girl’s parents approached the police.
Police said the youth Sushanth, a close relative of the girl’s family and residing in the same colony, lured the three-year-old with chocolates when her parents had gone to work. He took her to the bushes on the outskirts of the village, raped and killed her. He then buried her body and returned to the colony.
When the parents of the girl found her missing, they approached the Vadamalapeta police station on Friday evening. The parents informed police that Sushanth had been playing with the girl when they left home for work.
Police detained and grilled Sushanth, who confessed to raping and killing the girl. Police then exhumed her body and sent it to Puttur Government Hospital for post-mortem.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu reacted seriously and directed Tirupati SP Subbarayudu to take stringent action against the accused. The CM instructed the Tirupati collector to handover ₹10 lakh as ex-gratia to the bereaved family.
Home minister V. Anita expressed shock over the incident. She said police acted immediately and arrested the accused within hours of the incident.
Opposition YSRC, however, accused the TD-led coalition government of failing to maintain law and order. Former ministers R.K. Roja and Narayana Swamy and former MLA Bhuman Karunakar Reddy consoled the parents of the deceased at the Puttur hospital.
Roja criticised the government saying no minister had time to console the family members even though the ugly incident has taken place in the Chief Minister’s home district.
“Chandrababu Naidu and home minister Anita should take responsibility for the series of assaults on girls and women. They have undermined Disha police stations as well as the Disha App after coming to power,” the former minister charged.
She said offences against women are continuing even after Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan’s assurances of providing safety to women.
