A teacher accused of raping a 17-year-old student was paraded naked on the streets of Eluru town in Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district on Tuesday night.
A video of the incident, which is doing the rounds on social media, shows people indiscriminately abusing him and kicking him as they parade him on the street with his hands tied behind his back. They continue slapping him even as he is seen wailing in pain.
One the men parading the accused can be seen telling the person shooting the video that the man had sexually assaulted a student repeatedly and impregnated her.
To ensure that no one found out, the accused even allegedly gave her some pills, following which the girl started bleeding heavily.
The family members of the girl admitted her at a local hospital and soon learnt about what had happened. Following this, they tracked down the teacher and dragged him out on the streets after brutally thrashing him.
The accused is also at a hospital availing treatment, after he was handed over to the II Town Law and Order Police Station in Eluru, where he was given clothes and his statement was recorded.
“As per preliminary investigations, the girl is presently 17 years and 11 months old while the man is 38. He is presently undergoing treatment, and orders from the local magistrate are awaited,” a police officer investigating the case told TNM.
Meanwhile, a case has been registered under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act that deals with sexual assault and Section 376 (Rape) of the IPC.
“The case is presently under investigation and further details will be revealed after we ascertain what exactly took place,” the police officer added.
This is not the first such incident in the state that has resulted in mob violence. Just earlier this month, a sub-inspector and a constable belonging to the state police were beaten up inside their own police station in Nellore district. The mob was irked with the SI who had called in one person for questioning at the Rapuru police station and had allegedly beaten him up.
“We had detained one man because he was drunk and had sent him to the hospital to get a certificate to complete a formality. However, the locals questioned the move to send him to the hospital and picked up a fight,” Deputy Superintendent of Police Ram Babu told local reporters at the time.
In May this year, anger spilled over to the streets of Andhra’s Guntur district as news of an alleged attempt to sexually assault a 10-year-old spread. Residents blocked a road near a police station and pelted stones injuring some police officials. The angry protesters even set a few vehicles on fire, demanding that the accused – who were in police custody – be handed over to them.