Days after remains of two minor girls were unearthed, police on Tuesday, 30 April, arrested a 28-year old man who had allegedly raped and killed them.
The mortal remains of the two girls, and one other, were recovered from abandoned irrigation wells in a village in Telangana.
M Srinivas Reddy, a resident of Hajipur village in Telangana’s Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district, was arrested following his interrogation, police said.
A lift mechanic, Reddy had also allegedly killed a woman in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh in 2016 and was arrested a year later along with four others. He was out on bail in the case, they said.
The serial killer, a bachelor, was addicted to alcohol and used to watch porn movies on his mobile phone, police said.
His involvement in the killings of the minor girls of Hajipur came to light when police questioned him after stumbling onto the body of a 14-year old girl in his well, during a search for her last Friday.
"The body was found in another corner of the well while the team headed by Yadadri Bhuvanagiri rural inspector Surendra were conducting re-examination relating to the 14-year-old's murder. The body was recovered in the presence of a team of doctors, RDO and Tahsildar. Along with the body, we found a bag," said Yadadri Bhuvanagiri DCP Narayan Reddy told The News Minute.
Well of Horrors
Investigations said that Reddy had offered her a lift on 25 April, when she was returning from school, and had forcefully taken her to the abandoned well.
After raping her inside the well, he had killed the girl and buried the body there itself, Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat told reporters, as per PTI.
He was also involved in the rape and killing of a 17-year old girl, whose skeletal remains were found in the well on Monday, more than a month after she was reported missing, the Commissioner said.
Using similar modus operandi, Reddy had offered a lift to the girl on 9 March and took her to an isolated place, where he sexually assaulted her and later killed her before burying the body in his well, he said.
During questioning, Reddy also confessed that, in April 2015, he had abducted an 11-year-old girl and sexually assaulted her. Later, he had killed her and put her body in a gunny bag and dumped it in another well in the village, Bhagwat said.
Police said efforts were on to exhume the remains of the girl.
Villagers Angry
Meanwhile, the villagers are demanding justice for the girls who have been murdered.
After Reddy was detained, a section of the villagers attacked and damaged his house while trying to set it ablaze.
Police dispersed the crowd, who were seething with anger on being apprised of the serial killings.
"The accused must be taught a strict lesson and given capital punishment so that no one dares to commit such a crime again," one resident told The News Minute.
While there has been heavy deployment of security, the villagers say they are “scared to step up.”
"We are scared to step out now. Many of us are farmers who sell crops at the Kushaiguda market. Police has failed to provide us security. How can we send our daughters to Hyderabad or Keesara to get an education if the government cannot guarantee that they will return safely?" a woman told the news website.
Slogans of ‘We want justice’ were also raised amidst heavy deployment of the police.
Residents suspect that another girl who went missing in 2015 may also have been killed by the same offender.
(With inputs from PTI, The News Minute)
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