Anantapur: Villagers turn spectators to minors being thrashed for eloping

Hyderabad: A minor girl and boy were beaten up badly by the former village MPTC and village head B. Lingappa on Thursday. The incident occurred in Anantapur’s K.P. Doddi village. The two minors were in love and had eloped form village assuming that their family members would not accept their union and allow them to get married.

A video shows Lingappa repeatedly slapping the girl, kicking her with his legs and thrashing her with a stick. He also thrashed the boy with the stick. Hundreds of people gathered and witnessed the village head punishing the minors.

The minors who out of fear of their parents and village elders eloped from the village. However, their families traced them and brought them back and placed them in front of the villagers.

Achyuta Rao, president of the Balala Hakkula Sangham Hyderabad said, “Balala Hakkula Sangham strongly condemns this brutality and has asked the Anantapur collector to initiate immediate action.” We have approached the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights to take immediate action by calling a report from the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh against this heinous incident, they said.