An incident of alleged sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl from a tribal community by a tribal welfare department employee came to light on Tuesday in the Visakhapatnam Agency area. The girl is a student of class 9 in a government school, according to The Hindu.
The accused, Sarveswara Rao, is an employee of the Andhra Pradesh Tribal Welfare Department in Anantagiri, where he works as a junior assistant. The incident reportedly occurred a few days back, when the girl visited the house of the accused, along with three friends. When those who had accompanied the girl left to go to the market for a brief period, the accused allegedly sexually assaulted her.
While the incident was reportedly revealed when the girl was on her way back to school from Sarveswara Rao’s residence, her family reportedly chose not to approach the police. According to The Times of India, the Anantagiri police have now registered a case based on a complaint from a teacher of the school.
Police have registered a case under the relevant sections of the POCSO Act and IPC. However, since the accused is absconding, and the girl has returned to her hometown, police have said that the investigation is likely to take some time.
Earlier in November, a minor girl was sexually assaulted by a temple priest in Kadapa district. The priest had reportedly asked the girl to meet him on the pretext of teaching the Bhagavad Gita. The accused was nabbed by the police after he went absconding, and changed his appearance.
Two years ago, a minor girl from a tribal community, who was speech and hearing impaired, was allegedly raped by a bus driver in Visakhapatnam. Police revealed that the victim was a gardener with a private company in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Duvvada.