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Fiendish attack on Class X girl in ZP school : Man storms into classroom with chainsaw and attacks student
In Short
Girl’s right hand almost severed; her condition critical
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M Hemanth
Anantapur: In a barbaric incident at Rapthadu mandal headquarters in AP’s Anantapur district on Saturday that has sent shockwaves far beyond the state, a Class X girl student, Gopika Lakshmi (14) was attacked with a power chainsaw by an assailant, unofficially identified as Hemanth, inside the government’s Zilla Parishad High School when the class was on.
According to late-night reports, the accused was arrested near Dharmavaram Railway Station. According to available information, the accused had proposed to the girl and attacked her savagely as she had rejected his proposal.
According to eyewitness accounts, the attacker stormed into the classroom and viciously assaulted the girl. The brutal attacks left Gopika with multiple injuries, including deeps ones on her face and throat, while her right hand was almost severed.
Benumbed by the gory attack, fellow students and teachers ran for safety in panic. However, one student came to her rescue, and she was also attacked and injured. Gopika, who had collapsed in a pool of blood, along with the other injured girl, was immediately shifted to the Government General Hospital in Anantapur by teachers and locals.
Both students were injured but one of them was stable, police said. Rural sub-divisional police officer K Ashwin Manideep said the attacker was allegedly a relative of one of the girls. "The girl is in hospital with her parents," Manideep told PTI.
A team of doctors is providing emergency treatment, but Gopika’s condition remains critical. The girl belongs to Ayyavaripalle village and regularly travelled to school by auto-rickshaw, her paternal aunt said, adding that the student had never complained about anyone harassing or troubling her. Her relatives expressed outrage over how an armed person could enter the school premises so easily and demanded the strictest punishment for the attacker, irrespective of his identity or relationship with the family.
The assailant managed to flee from the scene before teachers and others could catch him. Police rushed to the school after receiving information, questioned teachers and students, and collected preliminary evidence.
A case has been registered. Special police teams have launched an intensive search to trace and arrest the absconding attacker.
The gruesome incident inside a government educational institution has triggered widespread fear, leading to outrage among students, parents, and residents. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, while promising stringent action, said he was "deeply shaken and enraged by the barbaric attack on a Class 10 student inside her classroom at Raptadu ZP (Zilla Parishad) High School."
"Attackers who target our young girls inside schools have no place in our society. I am personally tracking her recovery and have directed the medical team to give her the highest priority care," he said in a post on X. "I have ordered the police to hunt down the monster responsible and deliver the harshest legal punishment swiftly," the CM added.
