Runaway teen raped for 7 days by 6 in Ongole; 4 engineering students among accused

VIJAYAWADA: A 16-year-old girl was raped for seven days by six youths, including four engineering students, at Ongole in Prakasam district. All the 6 accused have been arrested — three being minors themselves. The girl, a school drop-out, had run away from home in Guntur to meet her friend in Ongole after a fight with her mother over her constant chats with him.
The incident came to light after a home guard noticed the girl at Ongole bus station where the accused had dumped her on Saturday night and alerted the ‘Shakti’ team.The victim was in a state of deep shock and after being counselled by cops she opened up and explained her ordeal.
According to police, the girl had recently befriended Ammisetti Ramu, a car driver from Ongole, in a hospital in Vijayawada where her grandfather was being treated. After returning to Guntur she continued to be in touch with Ramu over phone. On June 15 she was chided by her mother for being constantly on the phone with Ramu and the next day she ran off to Ongole to meet him after he allegedly called her over, Prakasam district SP Siddharth Kaushal told TOI.
But when Ramu didn’t turn up and she could not reach him on phone either, the girl, after waiting for a long time, went to a mobile shop in the bus station to charge her drained out mobile. The shopkeeper, a physically-challenged 20-year-old, lured her by claiming that he knew Ramu and asked her to stay for the night in the room attached to the shop.
The trapped girl was first abused by the shopkeeper and he later invited two of his friends — one 23-year-old and other 19-year old — as well as the three minor students. All the six raped her repeatedly for seven days and then left her at Ongole bus station on June 22 evening, giving her some money and threatening her not to reveal the incident, police said.
The cops soon swung into action and teams led by Ongole DSP Radhesh Murali and One Town inspector M Lakshman caught four of the accused. Two others managed to escape, but were caught later. “Our men chased a train which one of the accused boarded to escape. He was caught near Bitragunta,” Prakasam SP Siddharth said.
The police booked a case against the six accused under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The police are also searching for the girl’s friend Ramu.