Three more held in girl’s ‘murder’ case

Three more persons were arrested on Sunday in connection with the ‘murder’ of a 19-year-old girl, Shaheeda, of Chapiri village in Kalyandurg mandal. She was allegedly thrown into Tungabhadra High-Level Canal on November 17 after tying her legs and hands by a youth, Bestha Raghu, said to be her lover from the same village. The three were relatives of the accused and with these arrests, the total number of persons taken into custody in the case rose to eight.

When the parents of the girl complained to the police that Raghu had taken her on a motorcycle, the accused was taken into custody, and during the course of interrogation, he misled the police. However, later he confessed to the crime. The body was retrieved six km away from the spot where he had allegedly pushed her into the canal.

Plea to be filed

A plea would be filed in court on Monday to get the police custody of the main accused for further investigation, Disha Police Station DSP A. Srinivasulu told The Hindu.

Meanwhile, Loukika Rajyanga Parirakshana Vedika (LRPV) State convener S. Mushtaq Ahmed visited Chapiri and met the parents of Shaheeda. The LRPV leader demanded that a case under Disha Act booked and the accused punished within a month as promised by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

“It was the inaction of the police, which delayed the detection of the girl’s body,” he said and wanted action taken against the Circle Inspector and SI of the police station. He along with the girl’s mother alleged that she was tortured by the boy. The DSP, however, said that the body was highly decomposed and they could not get any evidence of violence or sexual harassment so far.