Former YSRCP MP J. Sudhakar arrested for allegedly raping a minor girl

Former YSRCP MP J Sudhakar was arrested by the Andhra Pradesh police for allegedly raping a minor girl repeatedly over a period of four years. The arrest came after the 17-year-old victim filed a complaint and provided video evidence to the authorities.

Sudhakar, 50, who was previously serving as MP for Kodumuru, was taken into custody on Thursday. According to Kurnool sub-district police officer Vijay Sekhar Reddy, the girl was raped multiple times between 2019 and 2023 while she was working as a maid in Sudhakar’s house.

“He (Sudhakar) raped the minor girl several times from 2019 to 2023 when she was working as a maid in his house,” Reddy told PTI.

The police have filed charges against Sudhakar under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and corresponding sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. After his arrest, Sudhakar was remanded in judicial custody.

According to police reports, a video of the girl being sexually harassed went viral even before the new TDP-led government was formed in Andhra Pradesh. However, no one filed a complaint against the then-sitting MP. It was only on Thursday that the minor girl found the courage to come forward and file a complaint against Sudhakar, the report said.

The girl and her parents, who also worked as domestic helpers in Sudhakar’s house in Kurnool city, had not previously lodged a complaint out of fear and because of Sudhakar’s political power.

Meanwhile, the YSRCP suffered a defeat in the recently concluded Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh. The TDP-JanaSena-BJP secured a landslide victory by relegating the YSRCP to third place behind TDP and JanaSena in the Assembly elections. Following this, YSRCP leader Jagan Mohan Reddy requested the Speaker of the AP Assembly to appoint him as the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.

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