HYDERABAD: Urkonda police have arrested seven persons on charges of raping a 27-year-old woman behind a temple, urinating on her, torturing her and robbing her relative of `6,000 in Nagarkurnool district on Saturday. However, the incident came to light only after the survivor mustered the courage and lodged a complaint on Monday.
The police identified the accused as Marpakula Anjaneyulu (25), Sadique Baba (28), Vaguldas Mani alias Manikanta (21), Karthik (20), Matta Mahesh Goud (28), Harish Goud (23) and Matta Anjaneyulu (24).
Nagarkurnool SP Vaibhav Gaikwad told reporters on Wednesday that the accused threatened the woman and raped her one after another. “It was a serious and heinous gangrape,” the SP said, adding that the police picked up the accused within a day of the complaint being lodged.
He revealed that one of the accused, Mahesh Goud, is an outsourcing employee of the temple.
On March 29, the survivor came to the Sri Anjaneya Swamy temple in Urkonda along with her parents and children. After darshan, she slept on the premises of the temple. Around 11 pm, she went to the open field behind the temple to answer nature’s call when the accused pounced on her.
The SP disclosed that when Karthik gave her a water bottle, she threw it away. Infuriated, he urinated on her. Mahesh Goud also thrashed a relative of the victim and robbed him of `6,000 while Matta Anjaneyulu took photographs of both the survivor and her relative to threaten them not to reveal the atrocities.
The accused were booked under BNS Sections 70 (gang rape), 351 (criminal intimidation) and 310 (dacoity) and other relevant sections of the law.