VIJAYAWADA: Jyothirmayi (name changed) shifted to Vambay Colony, located on the outskirts of the city, with her family a few months ago. To give his daughter a better education, Kurma Rao, a farmer left his native village in Nunna mandal and admitted his daughter to a famous private school in the city.
For the 15-year-old Jyothirmayi, everything was fine till she met auto driver Ravi (23) (name changed) who also happened to be from the same locality. Ravi greeted her daily when she boarded his auto.
After a few days, he started offering her chocolates and their conversations happened over phone. However, what started off as a pleasant friendship soon turned into a bitter relationship with Ravi cheating the girl in the name of love.
“The girl was sexually harassed by the auto driver and his friends who threatened to upload her compromising videos and photos on social networking sites. Fearing the future of the girl, Jyotirmayi and her family went back to their village without reporting about the incident,” said a senior police official.
This is not only the case of Jyothirmayi. Many school-going girls, residing in colonies located in the city outskirts and from uneducated families, are increasingly getting attracted to youth especially bike-borne men and auto drivers. The recent incident reported in New Rajarajeswari Pet where a school-going girl was sexually abused in the name of love is a glaring example of how minor girls are being lured on the pretext of love and are being sexually exploited.
According to North Zone ACP K Sravani, there are many cases of sexual exploitation that go unreported in the colonies on the outskirts of the city like Vambay Colony, Jakkampudi Colony, New Rajarajeswaripet, Ajit Singh Nagar and other localities. Infact, a number of POCSO cases are being reported from these places.