The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) moved the Andhra Pradesh High Court to dismiss the investigation of the alleged rape and murder of a 15-year-old Dalit girl from its purview. In a written submission, CBI Superintendent A Raghuram Rajan stated that the “agency is dealing with several other important cases”.
The 15-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted and killed on the premises of a residential school near Kurnool on August 19, 2017. Her body was found under mysterious circumstances in her hostel room. The case was initially probed by a Special Investigation Team. It was handed over to the CBI in 2020 by the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government after her family and rights groups alleged that there was no progress despite scientific evidence of sexual assault.
Even in 2020, the CBI had expressed unwillingness to take up the case. According to the then Kurnool SP Sudheer Kumar Reddy, the CBI has sent a letter citing reasons for its refusal. “The reasons cited were that there is already a senior officer of the rank of Addl SP, and a lady officer, who is investigating the case. And since no international or interstate ramifications are there, they have refused to take up the case,” he told TNM in 2020.
The family then approached the High Court seeking the case to be transferred to the CBI.
The CBI’s submission in the Andhra HC to dismiss the family’s petition citing shortage of resources has drawn criticism from the YSRCP, which is now the Opposition in the state. Several members of the party have slammed Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan.
While the CBI does not come under the purview of the state government, both Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Pawan’s Jana Sena Party (JSP) are a part of the Union government’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Pawan Kalyan has, on several occasions, demanded justice for the deceased. In a February 2020 Jana Sena rally, the deceased’s mother Parvathi had openly expressed her admiration for Pawan Kalyan and stated that she was grateful for all the support he had given. Even in July 2024, her parents met with now Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan stating that the investigation has not progressed.