Family members of the 14-year-old girl, who was allegedly gang-raped and was later found dead in a canal, alleged that the Pamarru police registered the case a full day after receiving the complaint.
The girl, who was studying in Class IX at a government school in Nibhanupudi village of Pamarru mandal in Krishna district, was missing since July 20. Her parents lodged a complaint with the police on the same day. Her body was found on July 23, in a canal at Surasanipalli village in Kuchipudi mandal.
However, the Pamarru police registered the case the next day (July 21), and said the victim’s family gave information to the police at 6 a.m., which the girl’s parents have denied.
“We received a phone call from the school at around 10.30 a.m. on July 20. The teachers said my daughter was absent from school, and that her school bag was found in bushes near the school in Nimmakuru village. I rushed to the school, searched in vain till noon in the village, and lodged a complaint with Pamarru police on the same day,” said the victim’s mother.
Krishna district Superintendent of Police (SP) P. Joshua, in a release on July 23, said the girl went missing on July 20, and a case was registered on the same day, and added that special teams nabbed the accused immediately.
However, the girl’s family members alleged that the FIR was registered on July 21, and the other accused in the case were not arrested.
Speaking to The Hindu, school headmistress Lakshmi Lalitha said the staff found the girl’s school bag near the school, and opened it in the presence of some staff on July 20.
“The teachers noticed that the bag belonged to a girl from Class IX and when we enquired with the class teacher, she said that the girl had applied for leave on that day. Immediately, we alerted her mother,” the headmistress said.
“The accused Lokesh and Narendra Kumar took the girl to Ramachandra Lodge, located at Vuyyur, and committed the crime. Later, they dropped the girl near Nimmakuru and escaped. Following a complaint, special teams have been formed and the accused were nabbed on the same day (June 20),” the SP said.
The body of the girl was found in a canal at Surasanipalli village on July 23, said Gudivada Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), P. Srikanth, who is probing the case.
Family members of the girl alleged that police handed over the jewellery recovered from the body, several days after the incident, and alleged that the police are shielding some persons in the case.
“We are conducting a fair investigation into the case. Four persons, including the lodge owner (who had rented a room for the accused) have been arrested so far, and the samples and the mobile phones of the accused were sent to the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL),” the DSP said.
Investigation officers are waiting for the RFSL report, and the role of a few other suspects in the crime is being investigated, Mr. Srikanth added.
