A 17-year-old physically-challenged girl, studying Intermediate, allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison after being allegedly harassed by a relative. The man allegedly extorted money from her and molested her.
The girl took to the extreme step on November 11, and it came to light on Sunday.
According to information, the girl who belonged to Utuvanka village of Bangarupalem mandal was pursuing her Intermediate second year. Suffering from 80% disability, she depended on share auto-rickshaws and known persons riding two-wheelers for commuting between the village and the government junior college at Bangarupalem.
A married youth Jyothi Kumar (23) of Bangarupalem, a distant relative of the girl, occasionally used to pick her up from the college and drop her at the village. After the college reopened early this month, he started helping her again with the transport. However, during the last fortnight, the youth reportedly took ₹9,000 in small sums at various times from the girl with a promise to repay at the earliest. In order to meet the youth’s requirement, the girl kept “stealing” cash at home.
Disturbed mood
On November 11, the girl returned home in a disturbed mood and opted to work in the field nearby. Late in the evening, her parents found that she had consumed poison when she came home in a semi-unconscious state and collapsed on the bed. She was rushed to the Government Hospital at Bangarupalem, and later shifted to the SVRR Hospital at Tirupati, where she died while undergoing treatment on Saturday night.
Sub-inspector (Bangarupalem) V. Ramakrishna said during interrogation it was found that the youth had collected ₹9,000 from the girl. As her disability was more than 80% with crippled legs and arms, the girl naturally showed interest to seek the help of a relative for transport, but the youth had taken advantage of her weakness, he added.
In their complaint, the parents also alleged sexual harassment of the girl.
“During the post-mortem, an abrasion was found on the back of the girl. Further investigation is going on,” the police officer said.
A case has been registered under the POCSO Act, and the accused was taken into custody.
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