The Jangareddigudem police on Saturday arrested two auto-rickshaw drivers on charges of kidnapping and molesting a 14-year-old girl in Tadepalligudem.
Police arrested Gandrotu Lakshman of Jangareddigudem and his close friend Srinu of Tadepalligudem, both auto-rickshaw drivers. The girl was a resident of Jangareddigudem, studying in class 9 in a local school.
Deputy superintendent of police J. Venakta Rao said Lakshman kidnapped the girl and a classmate of hers while they were on their way back to home from school on September 18. The classmate returned home the next day and her mother lodged a complaint with the police.
Even as the police were investigating the case, the other girl returned home on September 22 and told her mother that she had been kidnapped by Lakshman and raped by him and his friend Srinu.
Based on a fresh complaint lodged by the mother, police registered another case and took the accused into custody.
A case was registered under the Protection of the Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The girl has been sent to the government hospital for treatment.
