Rape accused jumps into pond, dies in Andhra

Police at a pond in Tuni, Kakinada district, where the accused reportedly jumped to death.

A 62-year-old man accused of raping a minor girl here in Kakinada district, died after jumping into a pond while in police custody, said police on Thursday.

Narayana Rao was arrested on Wednesday for luring away a 13-year-old government school girl, his neighbour, from her hostel and allegedly raped her in an orchard.

“Rao jumped into a pond while being taken to a local magistrate. He escaped under the pretext of going to the washroom,” Peddapuram sub-divisional police officer Srihari Raju told PTI.

Rao jumped into the pond in Tuni around 10 pm on Wednesday and his body was fished out this morning, he said.

Rao was arrested under Sections 2 and 4 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), BNS Section 63 and others for raping the minor girl.

According to Police, the girl consented to go with him, but the ‘consent of minors is no consent’, prompting the police to invoke aggravated sexual assault and kidnap charges against Rao.

The crime came to light after the orchard owner confronted Rao for raping the girl and shot a video of the duo rushing to escape the orchard. He made the video viral, leading to police arresting Rao.