Hyderabad:Forty-year-old Gutla Srinivas was sentenced to life imprisonment along with 25-year rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 by XII Additional Sessions Judge in Nampally on Friday for sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl who belonged to the SC community. The judge also ordered a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the victim.Judge T. Anitha sentenced Srinivas based on the testimony of the victim and her friend, who witnessed the incident. The court found that on February 28, 2023, Srinivas lured the girl while she was playing with other children under the pretext of showing her videos on his mobile phone. He then sent away the other children and proceeded to assault her.He threatened to pour chilli powder into the victim’s eyes if she disclosed the incident to her mother. “The other girl testified that she had informed her aunt about the incident, after which there was a dispute between her aunt and the accused,” said A. Ram Reddy, additional public prosecutor. The court analysed the evidence, including medical reports, witness testimonies and forensic findings, to arrive at a conviction. “While the medical examination of the victim did not reveal any external injuries as samples were not collected due to the child’s lack of cooperation, the court noted even the slightest penetration was sufficient to constitute sexual assault, especially in the case of a young child,” Ram Reddy informed.Though the defence urged for leniency citing the vulnerable condition of the accused’s aged mother, differently abled brothers and his daughters, the court acknowledged the gravity of the offense against a minor and imposed a stricter punishment. Stepmother, lover killed woman in NalgondaHyderabad:A missing person complaint filed at Medipally police station in early April led to the discovery of a murder that had occurred months earlier. The victim, 26-year-old J. Maheshwari, was allegedly killed by her stepmother and her lover in December 2024.According to police, Maheshwari was the daughter of J. Peena, 55, a government employee. After separating from his first wife, Peena retained custody of Maheshwari, while her brother lived with their mother. The accused have been identified as J. Lalitha, 35, stepmother, her lover Ravi, an Army jawan, and his friend Veeru Naik, a private employee. Police said the trio conspired to murder Maheshwari after Peena finalised her marriage alliance, agreeing to offer a dowry of `1 crore.Peena lodged a complaint in April, stating Maheshwari had been missing since December 7, 2024. When questioned about the delay, he said he believed she would return, but filed the complaint after pressure from the prospective groom’s family. Police grew suspicious after noticing inconsistencies in Lalitha’s responses. Upon further interrogation, she confessed to the murder, implicating Ravi and Veeru as accomplices.Maheshwari, a nurse, had been living separately before her father asked her to return home. After an alliance was arranged, Peena told Lalitha he planned to sell two houses in Boduppal to raise the dowry amount. Unhappy with this, Lalitha allegedly plotted Maheshwari’s murder. She engaged Ravi—her long-time lover, with whom she maintained an illicit relationship even after marriage—and the two planned the killing.On December 7, while Peena was at work and the younger daughter was at school, Ravi and Veeru arrived at the house where Lalitha was present. The three attacked Maheshwari, who weighed only 35 kg and could not resist. They strangled her using cables, a towel, a chunni and a plastic cover to smother her. The body was then transported to Vangamarthi and buried along the Musi riverbed, which had no water flow at the time.After Lalitha’s confession, Medipally police located the burial site. The body, in a decomposed state, was exhumed and a post-mortem was conducted on-site. The skull, separated from the body, was found inside a plastic cover. Cables, the towel and the chunni used in the murder were also recovered, still entangled with the skeletal remains. Bone samples were sent for DNA testing at the Forensic Science Laboratory.Juvenile gets community service for misconduct Hyderabad:A juvenile was ordered to undergo one year of community service at the special home in Gajularamaram for showing a minor girl pornographic videos and outraging her modesty. Judge T. Madhavi, Fifth Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) of Nampally awarded the sentence.The crime took place on April 1, 2024, when the juvenile, who was 16 years old, showed obscene videos on his phone to his relative, a 12-year-old girl, at his residence in Addagutta, Tukaramgate. He allegedly asked her to imitate the acts and instructed her not to disclose the incident to anyone. The victim later informed her mother about the incident, who later filed a complaint. Assistant public prosecutor Anitha Deshmukh, who led the prosecution, revealed, “During the victim’s deposition, the girl was frightened and struggled to give her statement clearly. She was having difficulty describing the obscene video she had seen and even broke down in tears. We had to gently reassure her that she only needed to answer the questions asked. Eventually, she was able to give her statement.”Suspect sheeter and juvenile accomplice nabbedHyderabad:The southeast zone task force and Chandrayangutta police on Friday apprehended Shaik Ahmed Bin Hassan Bin Jalal Bin Al Jabri along with his minor associate in an extortion case. Police executed seven long-pending non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against Jabri.Police were acting on a complaint by a city resident in the last week of March who said Jabri and the minor stole duo his mobile phone and Rs 7,000 cash. Police said Jabri faced 12 cases, including robbery, extortion, and bodily offences.Sister and her boyfriend among five held in Santoshnagar murderHyderabad:The Santoshnagar police arrested five individuals, including the victim’s sister, in connection with a murder case. Police identified the victim as Mohammad Aleem. He was opposed to his 25-year-old sister Yasmeen Begum’s relationship with Syed Faisal, 19, an autorickshaw driver.Faisal along with his associates Mohammed Muneer and Syed Firdous called Aleem to a graveyard. While Muneer and Firdous held him down, Faisal stabbed Aleem. Faisal called his brother Syed Fazal, who helped him dispose of the murder weapon and assisted Faisal to escape. The police arrested all the five accused.
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