Krimnagar: A four-year old girl, the daughter of a home guard, was raped and strangled to death by her 30-year-old alcoholic relative-cum-neighbour at Damerakunta village on Saturday night.
Godavarikhani DSP Vishnu S. Warrier said the dead kid, Vinaya Sri, was the younger daughter of Togari Raja Swamy, a native of the village and a home guard of Kataram police station. She was a student at an anganwadi in the village.
The accused, Jakkula Venkta Swamy, is a jobless youth and resident of the village. He is a cousin of the girl. His wife had left him following harassment as he was addicted to liquor.
He was booked for allegedly attempting to murder a person in the past. Venkata Swamy raped the child after calling her to his house when she returned from the centre by luring her with chocolates when her parents were not present at their home at around 7 pm.
Later, he smothered her to death and kept the body under a wooden tub. Then, he fled after locking up the house. The parents of the girl saw the body and informed the police.
Mr. Warrier, who inspected the scene of crime, stated that the girl had bites and injuries all over her body in particular on her neck.
“The accused might have killed her after assaulting her sexually in an inebriated condition. He is absconding after the incident. A manhunt was launched for nabbing him. The body was sent for medical examination,” explai-ned the IPS officer.
