A 45-year-old village revenue assistant (VRA) of Mylavaram under Jammalamadugu mandal in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh was arrested on Saturday, August 29, for allegedly sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl. Nagamunaiah, the VRA, has been booked under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act.

According to Mylavaram Sub-Inspector Praveen Kumar, the girl was playing outside a temple in her neighbourhood on Saturday evening, while her mother was away for work, when Nagamunaiah took her into the temple and allegedly raped her, reported The News Minute.

The accused is the child’s neighbour and distant relative, the police said. The child’s mother found out about the incident after she returned from work and registered a complaint with the local police.

Nagamunaiah has been booked under Sections 354A (sexual harassment), 376 (rape), and the relevant sections of the POCSO Act. The police added that the investigation is underway.

In a gruesome incident last month, a 14-year-old girl in Guntur district, who was married off to an adult man, was allegedly raped by her husband’s neighbour. The accused then allegedly dropped the girl off away from home.

While on her way to a friend’s house, a home guard who found her alone in the middle of the night, offered to help her. However, the guard, along with his acquaintance, allegedly confined the child for nearly 20 days and sexually abused her.

In another gruesome incident in November 2019, a seven-year-old girl in Vijayawada was sexually assaulted and killed by a man known to the family. The girl’s body was found in a bag in her neighbour’s house, hours after she went missing. A special court gave the death penalty to the neighbour for the rape and murder of the girl, nine months after the incident.

Also Read: Tripura: Eight-Yr-Old Girl Gang-Raped By Seven Teenage Boys, Six Arrested