Man admits to killing niece

Visakhapatnam: Seven-year-old Vepada Divya, who was kidnapped near her home at Devarapalle on Tuesday, has been murdered. Her body was found near an abandoned quarry close to Raiwada canal on Thursday morning by the police. Her maternal uncle Gunasekhar, who was taken into custody on Wednesday, confessed to the killing citing disputes with victims’ parents. Divya, second standard student of a local school went missing on Tuesday when she went to a grocer across the road to buy chocolates at about 4 pm.

Her mother Vepada Dhanalakshmi, after searching in their relatives houses, lodged a formal complaint with the police on Wednesday morning. In her complaint, she suspected Gunasekhar, a distant cousin.. The police picked up some suspicious characters from the locality along with Gunasekhar. “During interrogation Gunasekhar confessed to killing due to some disputes with Dhanalakshmi and her husband,’’ said superintendent of police Dr Koyya Praveen.

Dhanalakshmi, a local woman, married Murugan from Tamil Naidu and settled there after marriage. Both worked in Tamil Naidu and moved to Devarapalle to work in a quarry 10 years ago. Later Murugan alone shifted to Ongole to work in a granite factory while Dhanalakshmi remained in Devarapalle working in the local quarry.

Gunasekhar, a quarry worker himself, has been helping Dhanalakshmi in the absence of Murugan. The police are investigating into the case in various angles and said more details would emerge after conducting post mortem on the body which has been shifted to government hospital in Chodavaram.