Police Arrest Accused In Sexual Assault And Murder Case Of 5 Yr old   

CHITTOOR:Andhra Pradesh Police caught and arrested P Rafi, the accused who was wanted in the rape and murder of a 6-year-old minor child at a wedding (on November 7), on Saturday. The accused was finally nabbed at Punganur highway near Madanapalle in Chittoor district after giving the slip to the cobs for nearly 10 days.

The police used CCTV footage to crack the case. The footage shows the accused Patan Mohammed Rafi, a lorry cleaner befriending the girl by clicking her photos and playing with her

District Superintendent of Police Senthil Kumar while addressing the media, said: " Besides CCTV footage, our technical analysis, based on the inputs and information received from locals, was helped us in catching the accused."

It may be recollected that the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy condemned the heinous crime of rape and murder of the six-year-old girl and ordered police to arrest the rapists at the earliest and promised stern action against the accused according to the law.

Also Read: AP CM Condemns Rape-Murder Of Six-year-old Chittoor Girl

Police registered a case of murder under section 302 of the IPC and carried out an investigation based on the complaint filed by the deceased girl's parents. Shocking facts were revealed during the police investigation. As per details, the accused lured the girl with chocolates and took her to a place nearby the hall. He is said to have raped and killed the girl, and threw her over the wall down 23 feet abutting the function hall. The sexual assault and murder is said to have taken place within minutes i.e., from where the accused was seen walking near the Kalyana Mandapam at 9.54 am with the victim and from where returned alone at 10.15 am as per the CCTV footage timing.

After that, he had gone to a hair salon at Angallu village at six in the morning to get a tonsure. Venkataramana the saloon shop owner said that he had asked for a tonsure so that he could grow more hair, and so after shaking his head, he shaved Rafi's beard and sent him. Venkataramana was shocked to know that it was Rafi who was the accused in the crime.

According to the police officer, the accused has a history of child sexual abuse. Information given by the villagers of Mollakavaripalle, was that Rafi had worked in a water plant near Angulla around seven years ago. He was thrashed, but left off after he attempted to rape a 12-year-old girl who was the daughter of a lady working in a nursery nearby.

Chittoor Rapist Caught After Search Ops In 3 States

District SP Senthil Kumar took the case seriously upon the CM's orders. Police formed three special teams to search for the accused who is said to have taken shelter in three states. However, he was finally caught by the police at Punganur in Andhra Pradesh.

The police teams were informed that accused Rafi was at Bhadrachalam in Telangana. Then he was said to have fled to Chhattisgarh where he was seen hiding in the Maoists areas of Jagdalpur and Kunta areas. He gave them the slip there also and is said to have gone to Chinthoor in Telangana.

Police is said to have used the technical support provided by Madanapalle Rural SI Dilipkumar, HC Deva and PC Prakash during this time. It was learned that the accused had come back to Andhra Pradesh and travelled to Vijayawada, Chilakaluripeta, Ongole, Nellore and Tirupati and finally reached Punganur.

Based on his movements Rafi was caught by police while he was near the 150th milestone on Madanapalle-Punganur road.

The police teams had to travel more than 3000 kilometers across three states to nab the accused. SP Senthil Kumar said that CIs Sureshkumar, Ashok Kumar, Sadiq Ali, SIs Sukumar and Dilip Kumar would be given special awards for their hard work and role in locating and nabbing Rafi.

The case has attracted a lot of outrage from various sections of society. State Women's Commission Chairperson Vasireddy Padma visited the family members of the victim and urged investigating officials to speed up the probe.

Also Read: Chittoor Minor Rape Case: Suspect Sketch Released