Two held for rape of minor girl at old age home

Hyderabad: Two persons were arrested on Tuesday for sexually assaulting a minor dalit girl repeatedly for six months, while another accused is still on the run.

The arrested include Gajjala Manik Rao and Anumula Srinivas Reddy, both managing directors of Akshaya Old Age Home, located at Cooperative Colony in L B Nagar. Another accused, Venu Gopal is on the run, police said.

According to the police, the 15-year-old victim, a native of East Godavari district was forced to work at the old age home after she lost her father in 2009 and her mother married another man abandoning the girl and her brother.

The girl’s maternal uncle D Jaibabu looked after her and her brother for some time before sending her to a distant relative Indira, working at the old age home, for shelter and livelihood two years ago, police said.

However, Indira left the job in May 2016 as the management was paying paltry salary due to which the minor girl was left all alone at the old age home.

Taking advantage of the situation the accused began assaulting her sexually. The accused allegedly threatened the girl with killing not only her but also her family members if she disclosed about the sexual assault to anyone.

However, the girl grew weaker by the day and she revealed the shocking truth to her uncle, when he visited, who took her to a doctor.
Subsequently, her uncle took her to L B Nagar Police Station where a complaint was lodged.

Police registered a case and sent the girl for medical examination and treatment. Police arrested two of the three accused on Tuesday and sent them to prison. Efforts are underway to nab the absconding accused, police said.