Vijayawada: Home minister Mekathoti Sucharita and minister for women welfare Taneti Vanitha on Monday visited the gang-rape victim who is undergoing treatment at GGH in Guntur and assured justice to the victim. They stated that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has announced Rs 5 lakh compensation to the victim. The ministers affirmed that the police had launched searches to nab the culprits and subject them to severe punishment.
The young woman, who was working as a nurse in a private hospital in Vijayawada, had gone to Pushkar Ghat at Seethanagaram on Saturday night along with her fiancé, who works in a petrol pump at Gandhinagar. The couple’s wedding was stalled because of Covid lockdown.
According to police, two unknown culprits had attacked them and tied her fiancé with a rope and allegedly sexually assaulted her. They fled from the spot in a boat, after stealing their phones.
The injured couple somehow managed to reach Prakasam Barrage around midnight and informed the police on duty about the heinous incident.
Led by Additional SP Eswara Rao, Mangalagiri DSP Durga Prasad and Tadepalli CI Seshagiri Rao, police swung into action and first shifted the victim to GGH in Guntur. The couple lodged a formal complaint with Tadepalli police on Sunday.
Later, Sucharita said that the incident on the banks of the Krishna River was a dastardly act. She stated that four police teams have been deployed to locate them. She said that the government is setting up forensic labs in three places and recruiting sufficient staff for these labs. She further said that we are setting up surveillance systems and enhancing security to prevent such incidents from happening.
Vanitha said that the compensation was being extended to the victim on behalf of the government. She added that an additional Rs 50,000 would be provided by the department of women and child welfare.
DGP Gautam Sawang said that Guntur and Krishna district SPs and Vijayawada Commissioner have been directed to take immediate action and nail the culprits. He appealed to women to use Disha application in their mobiles to ensure their safety.
