Former YSRCP MLA J Sudhakar was arrested by Andhra Pradesh police for allegedly raping a minor girl repeatedly over the course of four years. The arrest came after the 17-year-old victim filed a complaint and provided video evidence to the authorities.
Sudhakar, 50, who previously served as the MLA for Kodumuru, was taken into custody on Thursday. According to Kurnool sub-divisional police officer Vijay Sekhar Reddy, the girl was raped multiple times between 2019 and 2023 while she was employed as a maid in Sudhakar's house.
"He (Sudhakar) raped the minor girl several times from the year 2019 to 2023 when she was working as a maid in his house," Reddy told PTI.
The police have charged Sudhakar under Sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as well as under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Following his arrest, Sudhakar was remanded in custody.
Police reports indicate that a video of the girl being molested went viral before the formation of the new TDP-led government in Andhra Pradesh. However, no one lodged a complaint against the then-incumbent MLA at that time. It was only on Thursday that the minor girl found the courage to come forward and file a complaint against Sudhakar, as per the report.
The girl and her parents, who also worked as domestic help in Sudhakar's house in Kurnool town, had not previously filed a complaint due to fear and the political power held by Sudhakar.
Meanwhile, YSRCP faced defeat in the recently concluded Lok Sabha and Assembly Elections in Andhra Pradesh. The TDP-JanaSena-BJP secured a massive landslide victory by pushing YSRCP to third place after TDP and JanaSena in the Assembly Elections. Following this, YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy has requested the AP Assembly Speaker to appoint him as the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly.
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