The brutal rape of a nine-year-old girl by an 18-year-old youth at a village near Tirumalayapalem mandal headquarters town on Saturday night triggered outrage among women activists, who demanded speedy trial and harshest punishment to the offender.
Sources said that the girl’s parents had gone out to attend the funeral of a close relative leaving her at home in the care of her grandmother when the horrific incident took place.
The youth, a labourer, took the girl to the terrace of the house on the pretext of taking pictures on his mobile phone and allegedly raped her.
When the frightened girl screamed, the neighbours rushed to the spot and found the girl bleeding profusely.
The accused managed to flee under the cover of darkness. The girl was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital in Khammam the same night. Her condition was stated to be stable.
The Tirumalayapalem police registered a case against the youth under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and launched a hunt to nab him.
Meanwhile, All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) district secretary M. Bharathi and two other women activists on Sunday visited the victim at the hospital here and inquired about her health condition.
In a statement, Ms. Bharathi demanded that exemplary punishment be given to the rape offender for committing the heinous offence.
She deplored that the horrific rape incident exposed the “unabated” incidents of crimes against women and girls in various parts of the country even during the nationwide lockdown period.
