A widow was allegedly gang raped under Pendurthi Police Station limits here. The incident came to light after the police arrested the accused and disclosed the case to the media on Wednesday.
The 35-year-old victim was gang raped by four persons, including two thieves, in front of her friend on January 19. The woman, a resident of Pendurthi area, had lost her husband around two years ago and was working in a shop for a livelihood. She befriended S. Naidu of Pendurthi recently.
On January 19 evening, the woman was walking home along with Naidu. They sat down at an isolated place, where the four accused, K. Ramana and P. Ramesh, who were both convicted in a theft case, and their friends A. Vara Prasad and P. Mahesh approached them identifying themselves as policemen.
Two of them thrashed Naidu and tied his hands. The four accused raped the woman one after the other in front of Naidu who could not move. The accused freed the woman and her friend around 10 p.m. The perpetrators of the crime also threatened the victim and her friend against approaching the police.
The victim decided to lodge a complaint with the police after getting over the shock. She lodged a complaint with the Pendurthi police on January 23. We did not disclose it to the media as there was every chance of the accused fleeing from the place to escape arrest, Assistant Commissioner of Police (North) C.M. Naidu said. The accused were arrested by Inspector K. Lakshmana Murthy, ASI Adinarayana and constables Siva, Naidu and Sankar Narayana. Cases were booked on them under Section 376 (D) of IPC and they were produced in the court. The ACP said that both Ramana and Ramesh were involved in several theft cases in and around Pendurthi.
