The Andhra Pradesh police on Thursday picked up nine suspects for questioning in connection with the gang-rape of a woman in Guntur district late on Wednesday night. The suspects are all said to be construction workers engaged for construction of a cold storage and hail from Vizianagaram district and neighbouring Odisha. Police were questioning the suspects about the incident which occurred near the cold storage.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Prashanthi visited the scene of offence near Medikonduru bypass road. Dog squads were also pressed into service to gather clues. The woman was sent to Guntur Government General Hospital for examination. Some men waylaid a couple returning home to Sattenapalli on a motorbike after attending a wedding function in Guntur. They assaulted the couple and robbed them of their money and gold jewellery.
They then tied the man to a tree and dragged the woman to a nearby field, where they allegedly gangraped her. The incident reportedly took place at 9.30 pm when the couple was returning home to Sattenapalli on a motorbike after attending a wedding function. They were stopped by men near Paladugu crossroads.
Meanwhile, police denied the allegation by opposition parties that Sattenapalli police station declined to register a case when the couple approached them and redirected them to Medikonduru police station. Police also stopped women leaders of various opposition parties who came to the Guntur hospital to meet the woman.
Earlier, in August, a third year female engineering student was killed by her stalker in broad daylight in Guntur, drawing protests seeking justice for the victim. TDP, the main opposition in the state alleged that there is no protection to women under the rule of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in the backdrop of such incidents of violence against women.
In another development, tension prevailed in the route that leads to Narasaraopet as TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh was detained by the Guntur Police while he was on his way to meet the family of the Kota Anusha who was murdered this February by her stalker. TDP cadres confronted the police, demanding that Nara Lokesh’s convoy should be allowed to Narasaraopet.
With IANS inputs