VIJAYAWADA: The postmortem report of the eight-year-old girl Movva Dwaraka, who was allegedly killed by her neighbour Barlapudi Pentaiah alias Prakash, 37, revealed that she was sexually assaulted and strangled.
The girl was reported missing at around 8 pm on Sunday and her body stuffed in a sack was found under the cot in the house of the accused after 20 hours.
According to sources in the police department, Prakash lured the girl with chocolates while she was playing in front of his house and sexually assaulted her before killing her.
He is said to have committed a similar crime in the past. Prakash tried to throw the body in river Krishna, which is 500 meters away from his house.
"After killing the girl, the accused went out and inspected the surroundings to dispose of Dwaraka's body. But, he gave up the idea as her mother Ramanamma already noticed that Dwaraka was missing and alerted the neighbours. He also joined the search for the girl to avoid arousing possible suspicion of the parents and neighbours about his involvement in the crime," said a senior police officer.
Meanwhile, mild tension prevailed at the Government General Hospital (GHH) mortuary on Tuesday morning with the kin of Dwaraka staging a protest demanding death penalty to the accused.
The post-mortem was performed in the presence of a gynaecologist, paediatrician and forensic officials.
The entire process was recorded and after all the formalities were completed, the body was handed over to the parents.
Dwaraka's father Movva Anil Kumar said, "Prakash should be hanged in full public view or burned alive.'' He said the police were treating Prakash as a celebrity.
"He is being served food in the police station and treated as a celebrity,'' he rued. "The accused should get the death penalty. Though Dwaraka called him pedananna (uncle) affectionately, he showed no reciprocal love to the girl.
We never expected that he would do any harm to our family. By hanging him publicly, can the fear of law be instilled in monsters like Prakash," said Raju, uncle of the victim.
Ramanamma, the grief-stricken mother of Dwaraka, blasted some TV channels and newspapers for suggesting in their reports that she had an illicit relationship with the accused and staged a rasta roko along with her relatives on the national highway near her house at Nallakunta.
They placed the body of the girl on the road during their road blockade. They relented only after police stepped in and assured them that justice would be done to the victim.
Based on the complaint lodged by the parents, Bhavanipuram police registered a case against the accused under sections 302, 354 (B), 376 read with 511 of IPC and section 8 of POCSO Act, 2012.
Later in the day, Prakash was produced before the Vijayawada Metropolitan Magistrate Court and the judge remanded him in judicial custody till November 26.