Rape-murder of six-year-old girl: Hyderabad police launch massive manhunt for absconding perpetrator

Raju, a neighbour of the girl's family, allegedly abducted and sexually molested the girl

Nearly a week after the horrific rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Hyderabad, the perpetrator is still at large.

With the opposition parties are mounting an attack on the Telangana government, alleging failure of law enforcement, the Hyderabad police have announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information leading to the arrest of the accused Pallakonda Raju (about 30 years of age).

The offer from the Telangana police department came on Tuesday, days after the initial claims of the arrest by the police and a tweet stating so by Telangana's IT, industries minister KT Rama Rao on Sunday.

Read more: UP woman, raped repeatedly by her uncle for two years, attempts suicide

“Deeply anguished with the news of a six-year-old child's sexual molestation and murder in Singareni Colony. While the perpetrator has been arrested within hours, I request home minister Mahmood Ali and the Telangana DGP to ensure that justice is delivered expeditiously,” Rao said in a tweet on 12 September.

However, on Tuesday, Rao clarified the status in another tweet. “Would like to correct my tweet. I was misinformed that he was arrested. Regret the erroneous statement. The perpetrator is absconding and the Hyderabad police have launched a massive manhunt for him. Let's all make our best efforts to ensure he is nabbed and brought to justice quickly.”

Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy called the minister irresponsible and demanded that the police officer who misled him should be dismissed from service immediately.

"Who gave you the wrong information which you used to mislead the people? Are you not accountable for such a goof-up?" Revanth questioned Rao while addressing the media on Wednesday.

The incident took place on September 9 in the Singareni Colony, under the Saidabad police station limits. Raju, a neighbour of the girl's family, allegedly abducted and sexually molested her. The girl's body, with bite marks, was reportedly found at Raju's dwelling. The girl's father is an auto driver from the ST community.

Several politicians including JanaSena chief Pawan Kalyan visited the family. Terming the incident as a failure of the police, YSRTP chief YS Sharmila threatened to sit on a protest in the locality till a proper response comes from Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

The public is also outraged, with several people demanding an “encounter killing” of the culprit like that of the four accused in the rape and murder of a young veterinarian “Disha” in Hyderabad in December 2019.

Meanwhile, police teams have fanned out all over the city and the state in search of Raju. In some road junctions, cops were seen displaying the suspect's photos to auto-drivers, commuters etc., in hope of any leads.

“Despite serious efforts, the accused Raju, is still at large,” Anjani Kumar, Hyderabad police commissioner said. Police said that he is addicted to alcohol and is used to sleeping at the bus stands, pavements.

Revanth, who visited the Singareni Colony, said that locals complained that their area has turned into a hub of ganja and drug addicts.

“The locality has become unsafe for women. The local police never acted on the multiple complaints lodged by the residents. The colony is just 1 km away from the residence of Home Minister Mahmood Ali. But the government did nothing to check the spread of drug abuse there," the Congress leader said.

Check the latest DH videos here: