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Six held for beating up 27-year-old tribal man in AP, urinating on his face: Police
After being released from jail two months ago, Naveen continued his relationship with the girl, angering Ramanjaneyulu and his friends, police said, adding they planned to “teach him a lesson”
Three men were arrested and as many minors apprehended on Wednesday for allegedly beating up a 26-year-old tribal man and urinating on his face in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, police said.
The incident took place in Ongole town on June 19, but came to light last week after a purported video of incident went viral. HT could not to independently verify the authenticity of the video.
“Nine people are involved in the incident. We have arrested six people, including three minors. Three others are absconding. A case was registered against the accused under sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons), 307 (attempt to murder) and 506 (criminal intimidation) in addition to sections under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act since Naveen belongs to a tribal community, at Ongole police station,” Prakasam district superintendent of police Mallika Garg said.
According to the SP, the victim, Mota Naveen, and one of the accused Mannam Ramanjaneyulu (27) were friends but had a falling out over Naveen’s relationship with a minor girl related to Ramanjaneyulu’s friend.
“Naveen had eloped with the girl, and a case under section 366(A) (procuration of a minor girl) and under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was filed against him in December and he was sent on remand as well,” the senior police officer said.
After being released from judicial remand a couple of months ago, Naveen continued his relationship with the girl, angering Ramanjaneyulu and his friends, police said, adding that they planned to “teach him a lesson”.
On June 19, the accused invited Naveen and his brother Raja to have drinks with them, police said, adding that the minor girl’s brother – who is also a minor, was also present at the scene. “The nine accused, Naveen and Raja had drinks together. The accused asked him not to continue his relationship with the minor girl which led to an argument between them. The girl’s brother and others brutally assaulted Naveen and his brother with sticks and stones. Raja managed to escape while Naveen was brutally beaten up. One of them urinated on his face,” Garg said, adding that the accused fled leaving a bleeding Naveen behind.
A passerby helped Naveen call an ambulance which took him to the Ongole government hospital, police said. “Since it was a medico-legal case, the hospital staff called the police, who reached the hospital to record his statement. Naveen told them he was beaten up by two people but did not disclose what had happened,” Garg added.
Based on Naveen’s statement, the police initially registered a case of assault and criminal intimidation, the senior officer said. “But on July 15, a video of the incident started being circulated on social media. We realised it was not a simple case of assault and hence we added section 307 (attempt to murder) charge to the first information report,” the SP said, adding that the accused were identified and six of them were arrested on Wednesday.
Rayapati Abhilash (19),Appanaboina Jayashankar (21)and Shaikh Sadiq Gafoor (23),were arrested on Wednesday, along with the minors, while Ramanjaneyulu, Chapala Prabhu (20) and Ekambaram Narendra (22) are still at large, Garg said, adding, “We will arrest the three absconding accused in a day or two.”
News agency PTI quoted Garg as saying that this was not a premeditated caste prejudicial case as all of them were friends, while Ramanjaneyulu and Naveen had together committed several serious crimes and have at least 30 cases registered against them.
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