Andhra teen held for murder, sexual assault of six-year-old boy
GUNTUR: Guntur Urban police solved the murder case of a six-year-old boy. Addressing mediapersons here on Friday, Urban SP RN Ammi Reddy said the accused was identified as Gopi (19). Elaborating further, the SP said the boy Bhargav Teja, hailing from Mellempudi village in Tadepalli mandal, went missing on March 14 while playing in front of his house.
On March 15, his body was found in the bushes. Tadepalli police formed three special teams and interrogated the suspects in the village. Meanwhile, Gopi, a resident of the same village, surrendered himself at the local police station.
The SP said Gopi, a daily wage worker, is addicted to alcohol. His father Srinivasa Rao was also arrested in a murder case a few years ago. On March 14, Gopi noticed Bhargav Teja playing in front of his house and abducted him. He took the boy to a nearby agriculture field and sexually assaulted him. Later, he strangulated the boy to death. Gopi broke Bhargav’s limbs and hands and later threw his body in the bushes.
When police started interrogating suspects, Gopi got scared and surrendered himself at the local police station. While searching the house of the accused, police found a silver chain of another missing boy. Suspecting a connection between the two cases, police learnt that Gopi also murdered another eight-year-old boy who went missing on February 11 in Tadepalli.
Around 2 pm on February 11, Gopi abducted Bandi Akhil luring him with chocolates and sexually assaulted him. He killed the boy and later threw his body in the Buckingham Canal. He took away the silver chain of the boy before throwing his body in the canal. During interrogation, Gopi confessed that he enjoys sexually assaulting children, especially boys.
“We are trying to recover the body of Akhil from the canal and will file a charge sheet against the accused soon. We are gathering more evidence and will ensure strict punishment for Gopi. A case has been registered against the accused under Section 302 of IPC (punishment for murder) and Section 377 (unnatural offences),” the SP explained.The SP suggested parents to be cautious as cases of child trafficking and sexual assaults are on the rise.