Andhra Pradesh: Parents Of Minor Raped, Killed In 2017 Detained By Police

Minor Rape Victim Parents Detained: In August 2017, a 15-year-old girl was raped and killed in her hostel in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh. Her parents were promised a fair investigation of the case and compensation under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Four years later, the parents of the deceased girl were detained on July 27 when they tried to meet the district collector to inquire about the case investigation and the delay in compensation.

The girl's father Raju Naik was allegedly injured while being detained by the police. Balasundaram M, who is working with the family for the past four years told TNM, "Officials at the collectorate told us that the Collector was being felicitated in the office premises and asked to reach the auditorium. But just as we reached, police detained us, abused us, and took us to the Kurnool Taluk Police Station where we were detained from 6 pm to 11 pm without any explanation. "

Sudheer Kumar Reddy, Superintendent of Police, said that the police had received orders from the Collectorate to not allow the deceased girl's parents and Balasundaram M as they were 'barging' in after office hours.

Reddy said, "We received a message from the Collector’s office that they (Geeta’s parents and Balasundaram) were barging into the function uninvited after office hours, so they requested not to allow them to avoid any unpleasantness."

The case so far:

According to reports, the 15-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted and killed at Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy Residential High School on August 19, 2017. A five-member committee set up the District Collector had stated that the girl was sexually assaulted before getting murdered. This was drawn from the deceased's post-mortem report.

Later, the police booked the school Correspondent Vallapureddy Janardhan Reddy and his sons but it was only for abatement of suicide. The charges of child sexual abuse and destruction of property were dropped.

A Special Investigation Team headed by SP Ramadevi was set up to conduct a fresh probe into the case. The family also moved to the High Court asking for their daughter's case to be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) but the agency refused to take up the case.  CBI reportedly said that the case doesn't involve any international or inter-state ramification

As per a report, the case filed by the family in High Court has not come up with a hearing as of yet.  Since the family met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, the State Women and Child Welfare Department and offered compensation. The family was supposed to get a plot, a government job and five acres of agricultural land.

The deceased girl's father was given a job at the revenue department but the family is still to get the plot they were promised. This is why the girl's parents tried to meet the Collector when they were detained by the police.

As per SP Reddy, the SIT set up for the girl's death and rape case is currently doing its investigation.