Kadapa POCSO Court Awards Life Term To Rapist

Judge Praveen Kumar ordered the divisional railway manager of Guntakal to pay ₹10.50 lakh as compensation to the victim, while imposing a fine of ₹10,000 on the accused

The incident occurred on January 27, 2019, on the Tirupati-Nizamabad Rayalaseema Superfast Express. The victim, a student, was traveling with her parents from Tirupati to Secunderabad when she went alone to the toilet in the B2 coach.

The accused, Gali Ram Prasad Reddy, a mason from Kadapa Town, followed the child, forcibly pushed her inside the toilet and sexually assaulted her.

The child's screams alerted her parents, fellow passengers and vendors who went and knocked on the toilet door.

Passengers caught the accused and handed him over to the ticket inspector. However, when the train rolled into the Kadapa station’s Platform 3, the accused jumped from the train and escaped.

Following a complaint by the victim's mother, the Secunderabad railway police registered the case, which was subsequently transferred to Kadapa railway police station based on jurisdiction.

The case was investigated by railway deputy SP Ramesh, who filed a comprehensive charge sheet. The accused was arrested on February 5, 2019, nine days after the incident, and remanded to judicial custody.

The Posco court not only sentenced the accused to life imprisonment but also took several steps to ensure justice for the victim and accountability within the railway system. The court recommended departmental action against the ticket inspector who was on duty during the incident, holding the railway staff accountable for allowing the accused to escape.