Lifer for three in sensational Naga Vaishnavi case

The Vijayawada Women’s sessions judge has handed out life sentence to three persons in the sensational Naga Vaishnavi case. The court has convicted Venkat Rao Goud and two others to life sentence.

Naga Vaishnavi, daughter of Palagani Prabhakar, a popular BC leader from Vijayawada. Was kidnapped on January 30, 2010 while going to the school. The miscreants killed the driver and kidnapped her. Later, she was found dead in a plot in Autonagar Guntur. The badly burnt body was found in a boiler. On knowing this, Palagari Prabhakar suffered a massive cardiac arrest and died on the spot.

Later it emerged that Palagani Prabhakar’s first wife Venkateswaramma’s brother Pandi Venkat Rao plotted the kidnap and murder. Vaishnavi was the daughter from Prabhakar’s second wife. The police chargesheeted Merla Srinivasa Rao as the A1, Vemparala Jagadish as A 2 and Pandi Venkat Rao as A 3. For the last seven years, the accused were in prison and were not given bail. They faced a case under sections 302, 357, 420, 201 and 120 B of the Indian Penal Code.

The case created massive sensation across the state and there was a huge outcry over the brutal manner in which eight year old Vaishnavi was killed. Prabhakar’s death has stunned politicians across the state.