GUNTUR: Four more people, including a lawyer from Telangana, were reportedly arrested in connection with the kidnap and rape of a 13-year-old Guntur girl over a period of six months from June last year.Police, however, did not confirm or deny the arrests, but sources said as many as 77 people, including three women, have been arrested so far. Only over 25 are currently in custody. Others have been granted bail.
The child’s ordeal began on June 26, 2021, after she was admitted to the Government General Hospital in Guntur with Covid-19. A woman, Swarnalatha, befriended the girl and her father, and promising better treatment, took the teen with her. The girl’s mother had died of Covid-19 earlier.
The father sent his daughter with the woman, who forced the child into prostitution, and presented her to several men in Nellore, Vijayawada, Ongole and Hyderabad.The girl managed to escape from Swarnalatha and reached Vijayawada bus stand, an agent identified and took her with him. She was once again pushed into prostitution, and taken to several places, including Kakinada and Tanuku.
As she was being taken to one house from another, she had a chance meeting with a mother-daughter duo, Jasintha and Hemalatha. The women gathered information about her plight, and on the pretext of rescuing her, blackmailed the agents into paying up. The women later approached the girl’s school seeking a transfer certificate (TC). Sources said their intention was to force the girl permanently into flesh trade. Sensing foul play, the school management refused to issue the TC.
The duo then approached the girl’s father. Claiming to be officials from the Child Welfare Department, they informed him of his daughter’s plight. They further threatened to book him for pushing his daughter into flesh trade, and forced him to get the TC from the school.
For almost six months, the hapless girl fell victim to three sex rackets and was presented to several customers in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.On December 18 night, the girl escaped from a room where the women had locked her up in Vijayawada. She reached home, and along with her father approached the police. Jasintha and Hemalatha have been arraigned as the second and third accused in the case.
The Guntur Urban Police formed special teams and arrested 77 people. The arrested include alleged kingpins, pimps, and customers, and they have been charged under relevant sections of the IPC including Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act, POCSO Act and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
“When we interrogated the primary accused, we learnt that various illegal sex rackets were involved in this case and many others related to them. The investigation is underway and we are determined to book and arrest every person involved,” investigating officer Additional SP K Supraja told TNIE.
Police invoke pocso, SC/ST act
The Guntur Urban Police formed special teams and arrested 77 people. The arrested include alleged kingpins, pimps, and customers, and they have been charged under relevant sections of the IPC including Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act, POCSO Act and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.