Among the cases Andhra wants to close, ‘rape-murder’ without a body

This case is among a number in which the state has sought to withdraw, through 23 government orders, prosecution of current and former TDP MLAs. After a petition by a YSRCP MLA, the TDP government has assured the high court that it would not take forward this process, and file a counter to the petition.

Those against whom cases have been withdrawn include ministers Kinjarapu Atchannaidu, G Srinivasa Rao, deputy CM K E Krishnamurthy, deputy CM N Chinnarajappa, Nakka Anand Babu, Devineni Umamaheshwara Rao and Kollu Ravindra, and Speaker Kodela Sivaprasad Rao. Many of them faced cases of rioting and assault.

Against G Srinivasa Rao, now HRD minister, the charges included attempt to murder in a case lodged in 2009 at Anakapalli police station, Visakhapatnam. In his affidavit for the 2014 elections, Srinivas declared that the case included charges under IPC sections 147, 148 (rioting) and 447 (criminal trespass).

The case against Rama Rao was withdrawn on September last year.

The probe against Rama Rao had begun on June 26, 2009, after a TV channel ran a report that a nursing student had been raped and killed and four others molested. A police inspector who initially probed the case dismissed the allegation of murder as all students of the college were accounted for and no corpse was found in the college or hostel.

The five students, all from Kerala, left the hostel and reappeared on July 4 that year, meeting then home minister Sabita Indra Reddy. While one alleged that she had been raped, the other four alleged that the MLA had tried to molest them. They alleged that after they had spoken out, a relative of the MLA took them to Chennai and kept them confined for four days before they escaped. The late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, then chief minster, ordered a CID probe leading to the arrest.

Later, the five students withdrew their statements and reportedly told a panel including the district collector that there had been no murder, rape or even an attempt to assault. They admitted they had given the statements after a rival of Rama Rao had offered to free admission to another college. They left for Kerala without completing the course.

“The CID dropped charges of murder and rape which were framed. There was no one missing and therefore no body and there was no rape victim,” said G Prabhakar, counsel for Rama Rao. “Some bloodstains shown by the TV channel turned out to be wall paint. When the CID realised they had no case, they withdrew the charges but kept the charges of intimidation, sexual harassment to save their face. The then Congress government had decided to withdraw the case but it got delayed.”

Rama Rao appealed in the high court that the case should be withdrawn as there was no evidence. The Congress government sought the opinion of the public prosecutor who, in 2013, stated there was no evidence or witness. However, before a decision could be taken, the state was bifurcated in June 2014. After the TDP came to power, it suggested that the prosecution be withdrawn.