Hyderabad: The Chaitanyapuri police arrested a lab technician, Srikanth, for kidnapping his minor cousin and sexually assaulting her after marrying her at Yadagirigutta. The police are searching for another absconding person.
The victim, 15, on April 30, she left home telling her parents that she would visit a textile shop to purchase clothes but did not return. Later in the night, her parents received a call from their nephew, Srikanth, saying that he had taken away the girl to marry her.
On May 1, the victim’s parents lodged a complaint with the Chaitanyapuri police, who booked a case of kidnap and traced the victim to Gollapally in Jadcherla on Sunday, and the accused persons, Srikanth and Shankar, were arrested.
Chaitanyapuri inspector S. Sudershan said that Srikanth, who happens to be a cousin of the victim, had lured her in the name of love. They decided to get married after she completed her her school examinations and asked her father, but he turned down the proposal citing that she was a minor.
“On April 30, Srikanth along with his relative, Shankar, kidnapped the girl in an autorikshaw and took her to Yadagirigutta. He married her there and stayed in a lodge by taking financial help from another person identified as Purushotham. They later took the girl to Shamshabad and to Falaknuma and then to Gollapally in Jadcherla, where Srikanth reportedly sexually assaulted the minor girl,” said the inspector.
The girl was rescued and handed over to her parents after medical examination, while Srikanth and Shankar, an auto driver, both in their early twenties were arrested under relevant sections of POCSO Act. Efforts were on to nab the absconding Purushotham, said the police.
