Teen gang-raped by men posing as cops

Teen gang-raped by men posing as cops

Women are not safe even when on a religious pilgrimage. A 17-year-old girl was gang-raped when she went to a jatara to worship Lord Anjaneya Swamy at the ancient Singarakonda temple in Addanki mandal of Prakasam district on Thursday.

Four men, between 20 and 30 years of age, approached the girl as she was resting with a relative in an open place close to a gurukul school near Singarakonda around 1 am on Thursday. Claiming to be policemen, they thrashed the relative and tied him with her chunni. They then mobbed and raped the young Dalit girl.

Some students on their way to the jatara heard the girl’s cries and tried to come to her aid, but the rapists threw stones at them and threatened to arrest them posing as policemen once again.

The students retreated, but alerted the Addanki cops who were on security duty at the jatara. The men, who were said to be drunk, threw stones at the cops too. Two of them were apprehended while the other two managed to escape. Swift action by the police ensured that they too were arrested from Narasaraopeta in Guntur district on Thursday morning.

The girl was rushed to RIMS in Ongole for treatment. In her statement to the police, she said that her attackers had threatened to kill her when she resisted and even tried to throttle her after the rape.

The accused have been identified as Inturu Venkatrami Reddy, 19, Namineni Srinivasa Rao, 32, Podalakuri Ankamma Rao, 28 and Shaik Sardar, 25. They belong to Vipparapalle village in Rompicharla mandal of Guntur district.

Darsi DSP Venkata Lakshmi said a case has been registered under Sections related to molestation and prevention of atrocities against SC/STs. She thanked the students for alerting the police.

Dalit associations have condemned the incident and demanded stringent action against the accused.

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