HYDERABAD: A day after a 14-year-old girl, who was raped for several months at a child care home, died at Niloufer Hospital, the Sangareddy district police registered a case of murder and one under the SC and ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act on Thursday.
A high-power committee, constituted by the Women and Child Welfare Department, also met earlier in the day and inquired into the case. The girl was raped for months at Maruthi Home, an NGO for child care at Ameenpur, and later assaulted by her uncle.
Patancheru DSP R Rajeshwar Rao told TNIE that they had prima facie evidence against the accused to the effect that she was molested and beaten. “The cause of death will be known once we receive the post-mortem report. Based on this and forensic analysis, the investigation will proceed,” he said.
While multiple-organ failure was found to have caused her death, a post-mortem examination would ascertain if the organ failure was due to the repeated sexual assault at the home in Ameenpur or the injuries from the assault by her relatives during her stay with them.
Inquiries revealed that Maruthi Home was registered with the government about a decade ago and started functioning in 2015. Initially, it operated out of a rented building at Miyapur, and recently shifted to Ameenpur.
Venugopal Reddy, who is accused of raping the girl at the home, works for a pharma company. He was one of the main donors to the home and a frequent visitor. Home organiser Vijaya and her brother Jayadeep used to send the girl into a room where Venugopal would stay every time he visited. He used to allegedly rape her after giving her a drink laced with a soporific drug. The police had arrested Venugopal, Vijaya and Jaideep earlier. Vijaya had worked in a couple of child care homes in Hyderabad before floating her own organisation. She used the contacts and sources from her previous workplaces to raise donors for her home and generate funds.
At Niloufer, the 14-year-old victim explained how she was repeatedly raped by Venugopal and the abuse she underwent at her relatives’ place in the city. Her pregnancy and Covid-19 tests returned negative.
The home at Ameenpur has been sealed and all children were shifted to other homes.
Meanwhile, the high-power committee went over various aspects of the assault. “We have chalked out an action plan and gathered details of the investigation conducted so far. We are also getting information about the girl’s family. After inquiring into all the details, a report will be submitted to the government by August 20,” B Aparna, a member of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said.
Initially, a Zero FIR was registered under charges of rape, wrongful confinement and causing hurt with poison at the Bowenpally police station in Hyderabad. It was later transferred to Ameenpur in Sangareddy district.
Later, based on a complaint from the child protection unit, a case was registered against the girl’s cousin’s husband and other relatives on charges of assault and abuse. She was shifted to a girl’s home at Nimboli Adda in Kacheguda where she fell sick and was admitted to Niloufer Hospital.