Saidabad 6YO rape case: KTR in political crosshairs for tweet on accused's arrest

Hyderabad: A major political storm has hit Telangana after Minister for IT and MAUD KT Rama Rao wrongly posted that the alleged rapist of a six-year-old girl has been apprehended within hours after the gruesome incident.

On September 9, the body of the girl, who went missing from her house, was found in a house at Saidabad. Main accused Raju is suspected of having lured the girl by offering her chocolates when she was playing near her house. He reportedly took her to his house located in the same neighborhood. He first raped and later killed her, family claimed. This lead to widespread protest by residents of Saidabad on 10th September. Incidents of minor clashes between cops and residents was reported.

On 12th September TRS Party president and Minister KTR took to his social handle and tweeted

Soon after the tweet, there was a sort of rebuttal from the police. In reality the alleged rapist was still at large. Further more on 14th September, Hyderabad police announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh to anyone who provides information about the Saidabad rape suspect.

On Tuesday, police released the description of the accused. "He is around 30 years old and is 5.9 feet tall. He has long hair which is tied with a rubber band and is wearing a cap and a red scarf around his neck. He has tattoos on both his hands that read "Mounika". The information can be passed to DCP East Zone at 9490616366 and DCP Task Force at 9490616627," police said.

Police's reward and public outrage were enough to singe KTR in the political fire. Under fire, he took to social media again to set the records straight. "Would like to correct my tweet below. I was misinformed that he was arrested. Regret the erroneous statement," he said.

"Minister KT Rama Rao's tweet declaring the arrest of the accused in the 6-year-old girl's rape and murder case, and the subsequent retraction of his own Twitter statement clearly points at the utter confusion that prevails in the TRS government. The right-hand doesn't seem to know what the left hand is doing," said K Krishna Sagar Rao of the BJP.

BJP also trained its gun on Home Minister Mahmood Ali. BJP has demanded Mahmood Ali's resignation. "If he cannot manage the law and order situation in Telangana State, he must resign immediately," the party said.

While Congress President A Revanth Reddy said, "Days after the irresponsible minister KTR tweets the culprit is caught within hours in the case of 6- year-old sexually molested & murdered, Hyderabad Police announced Rs 10 lakh to whoever gives a clue on absconding accused. I wish CM took this case as seriously as the Huzurabad election," he tweeted.

Saidabad police have registered a case under Sections 376(1) and 302 for rape and murder. Raju was also booked under the POCSO Act 2012. The haunt for the alleged rapist is still on.