An alleged rape and murder of a schoolgirl under Sitanagaram police station limits came to light on Saturday.
According to Bobbili police, a student of Class X shuttles from Reddlavalasa, a hamlet of Dongadavalasa panchayat in Bobbii mandal to the Zilla Parishad High School at Gadelavalasa in Sitanagaram mandal everyday.
When the girl did not return home on Friday evening, her parents lodged a complaint with the police.
As word spread, an eye-witness informed her parents that he saw one Pothuri Sankar Rao (23), a daily wage earner of the same village accosting her in the afternoon at a teak plantation.
Based on the information, police took Sankar Rao into custody. On interrogation, the accused reportedly confessed to have raped her, strangled her to death with a dupatta , and dumped the body in a nearby tank. The body was fished out and sent for post-mortem.
