Andhra Man Arrested For Assaulting Government Employee He Met Online

A week after a brutal sexual assault on a government employee in Macherla shocked Andhra Pradesh, Palnadu police have arrested a 27-year-old man who was allegedly known to the victim through social media said the police.

The accused, identified as Namala Srinivas from Rajupalem village, was arrested near Macherla railway station and on April 9 he was produced in court which sent him to judicial Custody.

Police said the 32-year-old woman, an office subordinate in the Panchayat Raj Department and resident of Macherla town, had come in contact with the accused through a messaging app. Their contact later continued on Instagram.

According to investigators, Srinivas visited the woman's house on April 2 between 3.30 pm and 4.30 pm when she was alone. Police said he allegedly threatened her with a knife, sexually assaulted her and attacked her before tying her hands and legs with a scarf and fleeing. The woman was later rescued by neighbours and shifted first to the government hospital in Macherla and then to the hospital in Guntur for treatment. Her condition is stable. In the complaint, it was alleged that the accused took entry into the house in the pretext of a request for a glass of water.

Macherla Town Police Station registers a case under Sections 64(1), 127(2) and 115(2) of the BNS and as the case had got significant attention Special police teams begin examining CCTV footage, call records and technical evidence. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu also intervened and orders immediate action.

Palnadu Superintendent of Police B. Krishna Rao said the accused was identified through CCTV footage, technical evidence and data recovered from mobile phones.

"We had very few clear clues in the beginning. Despite this, our teams worked continuously and traced the accused within a short time," the SP said.

Police have seized the accused's mobile phone and the victim's damaged phone and sent them to the forensic lab for analysis. Further investigation is underway.