Andhra Pradesh government offers Rs 10 lakh compensation to family of minor rape victim

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Home Minister V. Anitha on Monday said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has approved a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the kin of the minor girl who was gang-raped in Nandyal district.

On July 7, the nine-year-old girl was allegedly raped by three boys and then pushed into the Mucchumarri Lift Irrigation Canal in Mucchumarri village. She was last seen playing in a park in the village.

“The Chief Minister has approved financial assistance of Rs 1 million to the family members of the minor girl,” Anitha said in a press release.

The girl’s body has still not been found because the boys keep changing their versions of her whereabouts every day, she said.

Police and the National Disaster Management Force are continuing to search for the body, she said.

The police have now decided to arrest the boys and bring them before a juvenile court.

“We are in the process of arresting the boys this evening (Monday) and they will be produced before a juvenile court tomorrow,” a police official told PTI.

The CM also sanctioned an amount of Rs 500,000 for a little girl who was allegedly raped by a male relative in Vizianagaram district recently, Anitha said.

She said the money would be deposited as a fixed amount for the benefit of the toddler.

According to police, the six-month-old baby was allegedly “molested” by 40-year-old Dora, who assumed a grandfatherly form, in Ramabhadrapuram village of the district on Saturday.

“When the baby’s mother went out to buy vegetables, Dora went into the house where the baby was and molested her,” an official said. The offence will be treated as “rape” under the new BNS rules, he added.

Dora was arrested under Section 65(2) of the BNS and Section 5(M) read with Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and later remanded in custody.

According to police, the entire incident occurred within about 10 minutes and Dora tried to feign ignorance by claiming he was drunk.