A law student in Visakhapatnam attempted suicide on November 18 after she was repeatedly gang-raped allegedly by her boyfriend and his friends. The accused had filmed the act which was used to blackmail the woman for several months.
The 20-year-old's ordeal began in August 2024 when her boyfriend Vamsi took her to his friend's place. According to police, the woman was in a relationship with Vamsi (3rd year LLB student) for over a year. When she was with her boyfriend at the latter's friend's room on August 13, one of the accused Jagadish recorded them.
Jagadish, along with other accused Anand and Rajesh, later used the same clip to blackmail the woman and coerce her into sexual acts. Vamsi too was part of the criminal act. The sexual assault continued for months.
Unable to endure the continuous assaults and blackmailing, the LLB student attempted suicide at her house in Pedagantyada on Monday. However, her father managed to save her life. Later, she disclosed to her family members about the repeated assaults.
With her family's support, the 20-year-old mustered courage to finally file a police complaint against the four accused.
All four accused, including the man who promised to marry the woman, were arrested on November 19 under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections relating to gangrape, voyeurism, criminal intimidation, along with sections of the Information Technology Act.
"All four accused (were) arrested and remanded. The victim's boyfriend and his three close friends are the accused," Visakhapatnam police commissioner Shanka Brata Bagchi said.
The opposition YSRCP hit out at the N Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP government over the incident. "A law student was gang-raped by four youth in Visakhapatnam. The atrocity was filmed on a cell phone and the victim was threatened many times. The victim tried to commit suicide because she could not stop the harassment of the accused .. The father saved her. How many more girls should be victimized by the incompetence of the coalition government," it said, tagging the chief minister, deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan as well as Andhra home minister Vangalapudi Anitha.
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