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A man accused of attempting to sexually assault a minor girl in Andhra Pradesh died, allegedly by suicide, while he was being taken to court by the police on the night of Wednesday, October 22. Police recovered the body of the man, identified as Tatika Narayana Rao, said to be associated with the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP). His body was found from the Komaticheruvu lake on the outskirts of Kakinada’s Tuni town.
Narayana Rao’s family has raised suspicions about his death, questioning if it was really a suicide.
Narayana Rao was arrested in Kakinada on October 22 for the alleged attempt to sexually assault a minor girl at the Jagannadhagiri Gurukulam, a residential school. Narayana Rao, who was in his 60s, had allegedly lured the 13-year-old student away from the school premises.
He reportedly took the girl to a mango orchard on the outskirts of Tuni, where he allegedly attempted to sexually assault her. On October 22, a video surfaced, showing a man confronting Narayana Rao, asking why he had brought the young girl to the bushes and why he had asked her to remove her clothes. Footage of this confrontation went viral after it was shared online by the YSR Congress Party’s (YSRCP) student wing, saying that Narayana Rao was a TDP leader.
Police said that on the night of October 22, Narayana Rao was being escorted to be produced before a magistrate. En route, he requested to stop the vehicle for a bathroom break and subsequently jumped into the lake, according to the police.
“Between 10-10.30 pm, he went missing. Fire department personnel were summoned to look for him in the lake. The search was stopped at around 12.30 since it was too dark,” a police officer said. The search operation resumed on October 23, and his body was recovered from the lake, police said.
Narayana Rao's family tried to stop the police from moving the body from the lake for a post-mortem. His son and daughter-in-law disputed the claim that he died by suicide. They told the media that police arrived at their home on the night of October 22 at around 10.30 pm, insisting that they sign a document necessary to produce Narayana Rao before the magistrate.
Narayana Rao’s son and daughter-in-law questioned why they weren’t informed that he had gone missing or that he had attempted suicide the previous night itself.
Based on the viral video, the child’s relatives had lodged a police complaint, and Narayana Rao was arrested on stringent charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, as well as kidnapping and other sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Outraged villagers and the girl's relatives confronted Narayana Rao, beat him up, and handed him over to the police.
The incident had triggered widespread outrage, with the girl's family, villagers, and Dalit community leaders staging a protest. Narayana Rao belonged to a Dalit community. The protesters demanded immediate justice and the suspension of the school's principal for negligence. The opposition YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) also staged protests in support of the survivor's family.
Education Minister Nara Lokesh reacted to the incident and said, “Whoever is involved in such incidents will be dealt with sternly. We will provide counselling to the survivor... Orders have been issued to the administrative machinery to provide foolproof security to the students studying in Gurukul Schools and welfare hostels.”