TIRUPATI/GUNTUR: Two girls — aged five and seven — were raped by a 61-year-old man in Cherlopalli village of Srikalahasti rural mandal in Chittoor district on Friday evening. The incident came to light on Sunday when their mother lodged a police complaint and the accused was arrested.
According to Srikalahasti DSP Venkata Kishore, the girls were playing near their house when the accused, C Subba Naidu, also from the village, lured the siblings to a Panchayat building by offering them chocolates and raped them.
The girls walked back home crying, but did not tell anything to their mother. When they saw the man again on Saturday, the frightened girls pointed at him and started crying. “I couldn’t understand what was happening at first, but then it dawned on me,” the mother said.
She lodged the complaint with the help of neighbours, leading to the arrest of the accused who is a farmer and commission agent.
Police said the man was in an inebriated condition when he committed the crime. A case has been registered under Sec 376 (rape) clause 1, 366 (A) ( Procuration of a minor girl) and relevant sections of the POCSO Act.
Meanwhile, another minor was allegedly sexually abused in Guntur district. The 13-year-old from Vanam village of Durgi mandal was raped by her 30-year-old relative.
Durgi sub-inspector B Subba Naidu said the girl’s relative K Ramanji tried to rape her by forcibly taking her to a nearby farmland.
The minor complained about the incident to her mother. “The incident happened three months ago, but was brought before us today. In the complaint, the girl’s mother said she asked the accused to drop the child at a relative’s house in Durgi and it was during their commute that the incident took place,” the sub-inspector explained. A case has been registered under relevant sections of POCSO Act and IPC.
All talk, little action
Public outcry after the rape of a nine-year-old in Dachepalli on May 2 had forced authorities to condemn rapists in strong words. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had went as far as to say that all rapists must be hanged. He urged lawyers not to defend offenders in court. A massive rally was conducted in Vijayawada to spread awareness about creating a safe environment for women and children in the state. However, AP remains unsafe, with several cases of rape emerging in the past few days