This story is from May 18, 2019

Karimnagar man gets 14-year jail in New Zealand for raping girl

Karimnagar man gets 14-year jail in New Zealand for raping girl
Representative image
HYDERABAD: A 47-year-old man from Karimnagar, who was employed with the prisons department in Auckland, New Zealand, was sentenced to 14 years in jail by a local court which found him guilty of sexually abusing a minor girl in 2003.
Seetha Rama Rao Salvaji was convicted of the crime by the Auckland district court on the “proven charges of child abuse and rape.” Judge Down, who delivered the verdict, said Salvaji did not show any remorse.
Salvaji, who had migrated to Auckland 19 years ago, was an officer in the corrections department and elected chairman of Mount Eden Prison Employees’ Union (Corrections Association of New Zealand) last year, a report in Indian Newslink newspaper said.
The news of Salvaji’s punishment was reported in the fortnightly newspaper on May 15. The judgement was delivered on March 6.
The victim lodged a criminal complaint with police two years ago about how she was sexually abused in 2003 by Salvaji when she was just 10 years. She told the court that she was scared to approach police then and her parents were worried as they had seen a change in her behaviour over the years.
She said she faced trauma because of the crime and that she was unable to sleep with the incident haunting her. She also added that she’d been so disturbed that she tried self harm.
According to the newspaper report, the victim in her statement said she was very confused after the incident. “I would have flashbacks at night. I would wake up in the middle of the night and sit on my bed in a corner, not moving. Sometimes, eyes closed in fear, I would just stare at the wall in agony. I developed a fear for darkness and to date, I cannot sleep alone in the dark. My innocence was taken advantage of. This was a very inhumane act,” the report said quoting the victim.
The victim lodged a criminal complaint with police two years ago about being sexually abused in 2003 by Salvaji when she was just 10 years. She said the incident left her traumatised.
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About the Author
Ch Sushil Rao

Sushil Rao is Editor-Special Reports, at The Times of India, Hyderabad. He began his journalism career at the age of 20 in 1988. He is a gold medalist in journalism from the Department of Communication and Journalism, Arts College, Osmania University, Hyderabad from where he did his post-graduation from. He has been with The Times of India’s Hyderabad edition since its launch in 2000. He has also done an introductory course in film studies from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and also from the Central University of Kerala equipping himself with the knowledge of filmmaking for film criticism. He has authored four books. In his career spanning 34 years, he has worked for five newspapers and has also done television reporting. He was also a web journalist during internet’s infancy in the mid 1990s in India. He covers defence, politics, diaspora, innovation, administration, the film industry, Hyderabad city and Telangana state, and human interest stories. He is also a podcaster, blogger, does video reporting and makes documentaries.

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