GUNTUR: An unidentified four-member gang dragged a woman returning home with her husband into a field and gang-raped her at knifepoint near Paladugu crossroad in the district on Wednesday night, police said. The Yanam, Sattenapalli couple was riding a two-wheeler home after attending a function when the knife-wielding gang allegedly waylaid them by blocking the road with logs around 9.30 pm.
They assaulted the woman’s husband and tied him to a tree before dragging her into the nearby fields and raping her. They fled after committing the crime with the couples gold ornaments and cash. The couple went to Sattenapalli police station past midnight where their statements were recorded.
The Sattenapalli police alerted their Medikonduru counterparts, and personnel from both stations went to the crime scene. Police took the couple to the Government General Hospital, Guntur, where they were treated for injuries. District police superintendent Jessy Prashanthi and other senior officers visited the scene. The investigating officer and additional SP Gangadhar refused to divulge probe details.
The case was registered at Medikonduru police station. Sources said sniffer dogs pressed into service went to a cold storage in the outskirts of Paladugu village. The cold storage has about 60 workers, and police were interrogating the employees, including eight labourers from Odisha and Vizianagaram, who had joined work recently. Local MLA Undavalli Sri Devi said the perpetrators of the crime would be punished severely. BJP Mahila Morcha staged a rally in Guntur, demanding justice for the survivor.