This Article is From Jul 31, 2015

Hyderabad Teen Finds New Home With KCR's Help, Will Continue Studies

Pratyusha at the dinner table with Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

The Hyderabad teenager, who had been abused and tortured allegedly by her stepmother, has been placed in a hostel at Keesara by her new guardian -- Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

Mr Rao has asked the officials to ensure Pratyusha can continue her education, finish Class 12 and then do a nursing course.

He has instructed the district collector of Ranga Reddy, Mr Raghunandan, and Cyberabad police commissioner CV Anand to ensure she is well taken care of, sources said.

He has also ordered that Rs 5 lakh be paid from the Chief Minister's relief fund into Pratyusha's bank account.

On Wednesday, the girl had been handed over to the Chief Minister after she told the Hyderabad High Court that Mr Rao had offered to look after her "like his own daughter".

The 19-year-old had been removed from school and placed in an orphanage for nearly five years after her mother died. She was taken home when her father remarried. But over the next 20 months, she had been tortured, abused and kept on starvation diet by her stepmother, she said.

Pratyusha -- who was rescued from her home earlier this month with over 100 injuries on her body - told Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale that Mr Rao had met her during her hospitalisation and offered to take care of her "like his own daughter".

Mr Rao and his family visited her around 10 days ago, moved by media reports. He said he would support her education and would also get her married, she also told the court.

Pratyusha was then taken directly to the Chief Minister's camp office in Begumpet in a police vehicle.

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