Hyderabad: Ten years after a minor girl was raped and killed, the accused was convicted and given a life imprisonment at Rangareddy district court on Tuesday.
The victim was 16 when the incident took place. It was reported to Vanasthalipuram police in January 2014. The DNA samples corroborated the accused’s confession during the trial.
Vanasthalipuram police received a missing case in the first week of January by the deceased’s mother mentioning two suspects. However, the investigation was halted as then inspector Gopalakrishna Murthy was transferred.
However, in the third week of March, the mother mentioned the name of D Venkatesh, 33 following which the police hastened the probe. He was arrested in Mogilicherla village in Prakasham district. The accused confessed that he raped the 16-year-old in the name of marriage and killed her by strangulation. He was arrested and later produced before the court.
His questioning revealed that the girl was staying with Koteshwaramma, her aunt and the accused developed acquaintance with the victim in the name of interest payments to Koteshwaramma.
He then started moving closely with her and forced her into sexual relation. The deceased asked him to tell her parents about their relationship, but he denied, saying he is already married and has children. But the minor’s continuous questioning about marriage annoyed him and he decided to eliminate her.
On the pretext of marrying her, he asked her to elope with money and gold and the duo headed to a rented room in Maheshwaram.
The accused promised to the girl that he would marry her in his native village and took her to an isolated place at Manakinda Laxmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Mogilicherla in Prakasham district where he strangulated her with her chunni leading to her death.
