Teenager's rape, murder: four arrested

The Cyberabad police on Tuesday arrested four youths in the sensational case of the burning of a teenager, Ch. Varalaxmi, at Kushaiguda.

Two of the arrested, K. Anil Kumar, 20, and M. Vijay, 18, were also charged with sexually assaulting her, the Cyberabad Police Commissioner, S. Prabhakar Reddy, told a press conference.

The teenager left her house in Padmaraonagar on March 9 and went to meet a friend in Vijayawada. While returning four days later, Kumar allegedly befriended her at Vijayawada railway station after seeing her alone.

Owner's objects

He brought her to his rented room at Kushaiguda on March 14 and raped her, the Commissioner said. When the owner of the house raised objection over the teenager living in the room, Kumar's friend took the girl out assuring to provide shelter outside and violated her in the night at a secluded place near a petrol bunk.

Three days later, he brought her back to the room. The teenager doused herself in kerosene threatening to end her life when she overheard Vijay telling Kumar that he had raped her. The duo and their two other friends, M. Madhusudhan Rao and G. Rambabu, who were present in the room at that time, threatened to kill her.

The quartet fled the room after Vijay set her on fire. The girl was shifted to Gandhi Hospital where she succumbed to her burns on Sunday.