Hyderabad: 2 more ‘Pratyusha’ cases tumble out

HYDERABAD: Days after the case of Pratyusha, who was tortured by her father and step-mother surfaced, more such instances are tumbling out in the city. On Friday, an 18 year-old girl who was allegedly tortured and branded by her relatives, was rescued from her house by activists and cops, while the step-father of a four-year-old girl was taken into custody on the charge of branding her with an iron rod in Jawaharnagar.
Bhavani was rescued by Cyberabad police and the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) from Vayupuri Colony in Neredmet. She was staying with her cousin Srinivas Rao, a coconut vendor, and his wife Lakshmi. The girl was adopted by the couple in 2008 after the death of her parents a year before.
“For the first two months, my cousin brother Srinivas and his wife Lakshmi treated me well. But later, they started beating me up for no rhyme or reason and burn me with hot iron rods. They never gave me an opportunity to contact anyone and escape,'' Bhavani told TOI over phone from Neredmet police station.
On Thursday, Srinivas and Lakshmi locked up the girl in their house and went to take a dip in the Godavari Pushkaralu. In their absence, Bhavani got in touch with the authorities who rescued her on Friday. The couple is likely to be arrested after their return.

“It was found that there is a burn scar on the victim’s body, which she said that was inflicted a month ago. The girl was sent to hospital for treatment and based on the complaint given by the SCPCR, a case of wrongful confinement and causing hurt has been registered,'' assistant commissioner of police (Alwal division) Syed Rafeeq said.
In the second case in Jawaharnagar, Prashanth Kumar, a pharma employee and the step-father of Sandhya, allegedly beat up the girl with a belt and marked her with a hot ladle on several occasions during the last several months. The girl’s mother G Prameela had married Prashanth after the death of Sandhya’s father and he began ill-treating her from day one, police said. The girl’s maternal grandmother Susheela got to know of the torture and lodged a complaint with the police on Thursday. Based on the complaint, Prashanth was taken into custody on Friday and a case registered against him under Juvenile Justice Act. A student of LKG in Sunshine High School, Sandhya is now staying with her grandmother.