Andhra chainsaw attack victim undergoes surgeries, classmates given counselling

Gopika, the Class X student who suffered critical injuries after a man named Hemanth attacked her with a chainsaw inside her classroom at a government school in Rapthadu, Andhra Pradesh, was shifted to Bengaluru for advanced treatment on October 31, hours after the horrific attack. 

The doctors at Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru successfully performed orthopaedic and plastic surgeries on the young girl, Andhra Pradesh Minister Nara Lokesh said on November 1. Gopika has been shifted to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) for close monitoring, he said. 

Earlier, a doctor at the Anantapur Government General Hospital where Gopika was initially treated said that the girl had suffered severe injuries because of the nature of the weapon. “A flap of one side of her face has completely come off. Muscles in her neck and back, paraspinal muscles, were cut,” the doctor had said. She was brought to the hospital in a critical condition following substantial blood loss.

Following the attack, the class teacher and fellow students who witnessed it were seen weeping in distress. Hemanth also attacked Gopika’s classmate, Lakshmi, who was injured in the leg.

Lokesh said that a team of 20 mental health counselors were sent to the school to visit the homes of the students present in the school at the time of the incident, to offer emotional support and help them cope with the trauma. 

Hemanth fled the school immediately after the attack, but was arrested within a few hours near the Dharmavaram railway station. 

Gopika’s transfer to Bengaluru was facilitated through a green corridor, following coordination between the Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka governments.

In a series of posts on X, Lokesh shared updates on Gopika’s condition. He had earlier shared that the medical team had stabilised her through blood transfusions and supportive treatment. He said that doctors had managed to successfully control the major bleeding, the child's BP was being maintained, and that her condition was stable. 

Lokesh thanked the Karnataka government and Chief Minister DK Shivakumar 

The attack took place on the morning of October 31 around 10.30 am at the Zilla Parishad High School in Rapthadu, when Hemanth allegedly entered a classroom during a mathematics lesson and attacked Gopika with a chainsaw.