HIV positive man arrested for raping 13-year-old girl

Chirala: A 40-year-old HIV positive man in Prakasam district abducted a 13-year-old girl in his village and allegedly raped her multiple times after threatening her. The police registered a case against the accused under POCSO Act-2012 and other Acts, and arrested him on Tuesday.

According to the HELP NGO programme officer and paralegal volunteer B V Sagar, he received the information from an unknown person that 40-year-old-man U Syamala Rao of Chirala raped the 13-year-old girl of Devangapuri in Vetapalem mandal for the last few days.  

He informed the same to the secretary of District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) T Raja Venkatadri. Based on the instructions and orders from the DLSA secretary, Sagar lodged a complaint with the Child Welfare Committee chairman Ch Bharati, AP State Women Commission member T Ramadevi and Chirala rural CI P Bhaktavatsala Reddy. The police arrested the accused Syamala Rao. 

They found that Rao was deserted by his wife and two sons, as he was found HIV positive long time ago. The accused sells bananas in Chirala town and surrounding areas and used to offer fruits to the 13-year-old girl in Devangapuri. 

The girl’s father is a woodcutter and she does not have a mother. She works in nearby houses as domestic help and accepts the leftover food.  As Syamala Rao found the girl vulnerable, he took her with him to his place and sexually assaulted her multiple times. When she refused, he used to beat her and threaten to kill her. 

The local paralegal volunteer P Sateesh counseled the girl to complain to the police. They arrested the man after a search on Tuesday and announced that he had confessed to committing the crime. They said that they registered a case against the accused under POCSO and other related Acts and conducting the inquiry.