AP Tribal Welfare officer rapes class 9 student, booked

Visakhapatnam: A 14-year-old tribal girl was allegedly raped by a government official working in the AP Tribal Welfare department (APTW) in Vizag Agency under Ananthagiri police station. The incident took place a few days ago but a formal complaint was lodged on Tuesday. The victim is a class IX student of a residential school, reports said.

The girl and her parents were reluctant to lodge a complaint but the victim’s head teacher came forward and lodged a complaint following which the police registered a case. The police and locals said a couple of days ago the girl along with three friends visited the residence of Sarveswara Rao, a junior assistant with APTW, Ananthagiri, in Vizag Agency. Rao allegedly raped the victim while her friends had gone out to the market.

Leaders and activists appealed to the girl’s family to lodge a complaint, however, they refused to approach the police. Sub-Inspector of Ananthagiri police station, K Sudhakar, said they have registered a case against Rao under Sections 376 of IPC and investigation is on. Since the accused has fled the city police need more time to investigate, Mr Sudhakar said.

Sources said the accused tried to hush up the incident by offering Rs 2 lakh to the victim’s family.