KARIMNAGAR: In what can only be described as a new low in human depravity, a minor girl was allegedly forced into prostitution by her maternal uncle and sexually assaulted by multiple persons, including staff from a private English-medium school in Jammikunta where she was studying in Class 8.
According to officials, the abuse had continued for about a month. The main accused, the girl’s uncle, is alleged to have threatened her with death if she refused to comply. Police said she was taken to different places and exploited.
The matter came to light after the girl’s mother contacted the child helpline. Teams from the Child Protection Society and Childline, working under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), reached the residence and rescued the girl.
She was produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and underwent a medical examination at the district headquarters hospital in Karimnagar on Wednesday.
Police said the girl’s father had died a few years ago, and the girl and her younger brother, both students of the same school, live with their mother.
Officials from the ICDS are conducting an inquiry based on the complaint lodged by the girl’s mother. Police have registered a case against 13 persons, including two women teachers who allegedly assisted and facilitated the exploitation on a commission basis.
Jammikunta police invoked Sections 6 and 17 of the POCSO Act, 2012, along with Sections 65, 70, 87, 96, 127(2), 351(2), 115(2), 74 and 77 read with 49 of the BNS.
The girl and her mother have sought justice and protection, stating that they continue to receive threats from the maternal uncle.
Huzurabad ACP V Madhavi told TNIE: “The investigation began on Thursday based on the FIR.”