Anguish of the grieving family of the 10-month old Saanvi Venna, who was brutally murdered by her abductor in Pennsylvania, is indescribable.
Saanvi was to celebrate her first birthday in December this year and everyone in the family was looking forward to it. She was the only daughter of Konda Sivaprasad Venna (41) and Chenchu Latha Venna (35), born after 10 years of their marriage.
Relatives of the girl, gathered at the house of her paternal grandparents at Kudumulakunta village in HM Padu mandal in Prakasam district on Saturday to mourn the tragic loss of the little one and her granny.
Meanwhile, the body of Satyavathi, the paternal grandmother of Saanvi, reached Hyderabad on Saturday evening and the last rites will be performed at Kudumulakunta in Prakasam district on Sunday.
Satyavathi was done to death on October 22 by the kidnapper, now identified as Y Raghunandhan alias Raghu, a software engineer and neighbour of the girl’s parents.
Satyavathi’s husband V Konda Reddy, who was devastated after hearing the news of his wife’s death and the kidnap of his granddaughter, was shell shocked when his hope for the safe return of little Saanvi was dashed as the news of her brutal murder reached him. He has no more words to express his anguish.
Saanvi’s maternal grandparents, aunts and uncles along with a host of other relatives and friends were seen wet-eyed, cursing the cruel fate which snatched the little girl away from them.
‘’My daughter Chenchu Latha had Saanvi after 10 years of marriage. There is no temple and pilgrimage she had not visited along with her husband Siva Prasad praying to be blessed with a child. A year ago, she gave birth to little Saanvi. Now the little one has been killed mercilessly,’’ K Malakonda Reddy, Saanvi’s maternal grandfather said, while his wife Mahalakshmi was weeping inconsolably.
Latha’s younger brother Pratap Reddy scotched the rumours that the abductor is their relative. “It is not true. He was invited to lunch once when Saanvi’s granny went to US, as he is a Telugu man,” he explained.
Sivaprasad’s brother-in-law Srinivas Reddy said that Saanvi’s parents went to USA seven years ago and Sivaprasad’s younger brother V Krishna Reddy also lives in the US with his wife.
He expressed anger at the rumours that an illegal affair was behind the case. “It is a case of greed. Our little girl was abducted for ransom,” he said.
Meanwhile, most of the residents of the village, which has a population of 600 people, turned up at the house of Konda Reddy to console the bereaved family. Expressing their grief at the double tragedy that struck Konda Reddy’s family, they demanded severe punishment to the culprit. On the fateful day, Saanvi was abducted by Raghu, a family acquaintance and her grandmother was killed. On Friday, she was traced murdered with her body stuffed in a suitcase and left in the basement of a gymnasium in the apartment complex. Her mouth was gagged with a handkerchief so her cries could not be heard.
Raghu had reportedly left 10 copies of a note demanding a ransom of $ 50,000 and warning of killing the girl if the parents approached the police. FBI zeroed in on Raghu based on the familiarity with which victims were addressed by the abductor. They alerted all the relatives and friends of Saanvi’s parents. When questioned, Raghu admitted to the abduction and murder. Based on the information provided by him, the body of the little girl was traced.