60-year-old man booked for attempting to rape a nine-year-old in Kothagudem’s Aswaraopet

A 60-year-old shopkeeper was booked under the POCSO Act for allegedly attempting to rape a nine-year-old girl in Kothagudem. Locals caught and beat up the accused before he fled to the Aswaraopet police station to seek shelter

Kothagudem: A 60-year-old man allegedly attempted to rape a nine-year-old girl in Aswaraopet mandal in the district.

According to the police, the girl, a class 5 student from Kukunoor mandal in Andhra Pradesh, was visiting her aunt’s house in a village in the mandal for her summer holidays. On Saturday, she went to a grocery store opposite the house to buy snacks.

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The shopkeeper, Paddam Lakshmana Rao, 60, gave the girl a soft drink, took her into a room and attempted to rape her. Another child who arrived at the shop saw this, ran home and informed the girl’s grandmother.

The grandmother, accompanied by another woman, went to the shop and found the elderly man unclothed except for a towel, trying to abuse the girl. When they raised an alarm, locals rushed to the spot and beat up Lakshmana Rao.

The accused fled and went to the Aswaraopet police station to take shelter. Leaders of a political party gathered in large numbers at the police station to protect the accused. The family alleged that the police delayed registering the case.

Aswaraopet Sub-Inspector of Police Yayati Raju informed that a case under the POCSO Act has been registered against the accused.