Rajahmundry: Dalit raped as her son marries upper caste girl

Rajahmundry: A Dalit woman has allegedly been raped in the district, because her son married a girl from upper caste. According to her, she has been raped twice in retaliation for the inter-caste marriage by her son.

Kothapalli Veera Babu, a Dalit man working as the Village Revenue Assistant in M Ravi Lanka village in Indukuru Peta panchayat in Devipatnam mandal of the district, fell in love with Mallipudi Seshu Kumari, daughter of a former sarpanch of the village, Mallipudi Burayya.

Both Veera Babu and Seshu Kumari got married in Gowri Patnam in West Godavari district on December 14. Later, Seshu Kumari informed her parents and they refused to accept the marriage.

Enraged by her marriage to a Dalit man, her relatives conspired to retaliate. They approached a Balu Dora belonging to Scheduled Tribe and bought him drinks. Later, they ordered him to bring the mother of Veera Babu to a nearby forest where, they said, Veera Babu and his wife were hiding. Under the influence of liquor, Balu Dora went to her house and informed her what he had been told.

Worried that her son and daughter-in-law were hiding in fear in the forest, the innocent woman went with Dora who took her to a nearby plantation. The relatives of Seshu Kumari, who were already waiting there, caught her and instigated Dora to rape her twice.

The victim lodged a complaint with the Devipatnam police station. But, Inspector Prasanth Kumar denied any knowledge of it.

Thereupon, the victim approached East Godavari SP N Shivashankar Reddy and complained about the incident and sought protection. According to sources, SP directed that medical tests be conducted on her.