VISAKHAPATNAM: Following the arrest of 11 people in connection with the alleged rape of a minor girl in Vizag, the police have launched a manhunt to nab two others involved in the case. Stating that the two other accused are suspected to be in Jharkhand, police said special teams have been formed to nab the duo and bring them back to Vizag in a day or two. DCP K Srinivasa Rao said details of the minor girl’s statement are being examined to establish the identity and involvement of all the accused in the case. The girl has been sent to a hospital for medical examination.
Meanwhile, a local court sent the 11 arrested persons to remand on Tuesday. In a press release on Tuesday, the State police department refuted the accusations of political parties blaming the government for the minor girl’s gang rape.Elaborating on the case, police said, the girl was first picked up by her friend Imran from the house where she was working as a servant maid on December 17. Subsequently, her father, who works an a watchman in an apartment, filed a missing complaint at the Visakhapatnam town station on December 18.
Station house officers (SHOs) in Visakhapatnam, Eluru and Guntur ranges were alerted and one team was deployed to search for the girl.The girl’s father received a call from Odisha police on the whereabouts of his daughter on December 23. Following this, he along with the police team reached Pani Kohli in Odisha and brought her back to Vizag on December 25.
“When the police asked her parents to bring her the next day for questioning, they didn’t turn up. The victim didn’t reveal any information regarding the incident even after they went to her house. However, the family came to the police station once again on December 31, when the girl disclosed that she had gone with her friend Imran (a native of Jharkhand) and his friend Shoaib to the RK Beach on the day of her birthday. The duo raped her at a lodge near the beach and dropped her at her workplace in the morning,” the police press release read.
According to the release, “The minor went to the beach around 9 am, where she met Raju, Harish, Nagendra, and Gopi, all photographers by profession. They pretended to give her moral strength, but forcibly took her to an unidentified lodge and raped her. Later, few of their friends - Srinu, Ashok, Naresh, Thambe, Eswar, and Praveen - also assaulted her till December 22. Around 7 pm on December 22, when she requested them to take her to Odisha, Nagendra booked tickets for her and Raju to Bhermapur and they boarded the train. On December 23, Raju dropped her near Pani Kolli police station and gave her Rs 200. She was eventually provided shelter by the police personnel, who also alerted her parents in Visakhapatnam.”
Govt turning Vizag into capital of crimes: Lokesh
Condemning the gang rape of the minor girl, TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh accused the YSRC government of turning the Port City into a capital of crimes and murders.In a post on X, Lokesh expressed that the gang rape of the minor reflects the horrifying situation in the State. Lokesh appealed to women and girls “to be cautious for the next three months”.