E-Paper
Man sentenced to death for raping, killing minor in Telangana
Jakkula Venkataswamy lured the girl into his house with chocolates after a fight with her father, who works as a home guard. He then sexually assaulted her before throttling her to death and hiding her body under a basket.
A local court in Karimnagar district of Telangana sentenced a 30-year-old man to death for raping and killing a three-and-a-half-year-old girl.
The incident took place on February 27, 2016, at Damerakunta village of Kataram block, which is now in Jayashankar Bhupalpalli district, and the trial was completed in a record time of 10 months. The sentence was pronounced by Karimnagar first additional sessions judge D Suresh on Thursday.
According to the prosecution, Jakkula Venkataswamy, an alleged habitual offender, lured the girl into his house with chocolates after a fight with her father Rajaswamy, who was working as a home guard in the Kataram police station. Later, he sexually assaulted her before throttling her to death. He hid her body under a basket and fled the village.
The girl’s parents came to know from the children in the neighbourhood that Venkataswamy had taken their daughter with him. When they searched his house, they found the girl’s frock and later her body under the basket. There were several injuries and bite marks on the girl’s body.
The police registered a rape and murder case against Venkataswamy and launched a manhunt. They arrested him a week later. During their investigation, the police found that his DNA profile matched with that of the blood and semen samples collected from the girl’s frock. Eye witness accounts also established the crime.
Following a quick investigation by the police and filing of charge sheet, the court conducted a speedy trial and examined 17 witnesses, besides the forensic report. The trial was completed early December and the judgement was delivered on Thursday.
According to the police, Venkataswamy is married but his wife and parents had deserted him after the crime.
He was shifted to Warangal Central Jail on Friday.
