Protests in Andhra town over rape, murder of minor girl

A shutdown was Thursday observed in Andhra Pradesh's Nalgonda town to protest the rape and murder of a minor girl in the town two days ago.

Shops and business establishments remained closed on a call given by all the major political parties besides several non-political organisations to condemn the incident in the town, about 110 km from here.

An 11-year-old girl, missing since April 28, was found murdered April 30.

The daughter of an automobile mechanic, she had gone out to buy milk.

Her parents lodged a complaint with the police. She was allegedly raped and murdered by unidentified people.

Police said no arrests were made yet in the case.

Leaders of all political parties have urged the authorities to arrest the guilty at the earliest and book them under the Nirbhaya Act, enacted recently after the rape and murder of a girl in Delhi in December 2012.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) district secretary N. Narasimha Reddy also demanded that the government pay Rs.10 lakh compensation to the poor family.

The leaders of various parties also appealed to the local bar council not to take up the case of the guilty.

Meanwhile, in Hyderabad, four cases of rape were reported Wednesday.

Police said a four-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a minor boy in Miyapur. Police arrested the 11th standard student on a complaint by the girl's father.

In another incident in Rajendernagar, an eight-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her step-father. Police were on the lookout for the man, who was allegedly in an inebriated state when he committed the crime.

In the third incident, a 20-year-old daily-wage earner was gang-raped by three persons in Kushaiguda.

In another incident, a mentally challenged woman was sexually assaulted by one person in Alwal.