A 15-year-old boy was burnt alive when a person allegedly poured petrol on him and set him afire at Rajolu village, Cherukupalli mandal in Bapatla district of Andhra Pradesh on Friday morning.
According to Bapatla District Superintendent of Police Vakul Jindal, the deceased, Uppala Amarnath, 15, before dying had reportedly named one Pamu Venkateswara Reddy, 21, as the accused in the case. But, this was not recorded in his dying statement, the SP maintained.
The police took Venkateswara Reddy into custody, who denied the allegations. Mr. Jindal said that a few other suspects were also taken into custody.
According to the SP, the accused was reportedly sexually harassing the sister of the deceased for some time, which the deceased had objected to. The accused reportedly committed the crime out of grudge against the boy, he said.
The SP said that the police booked a case under Sections 354 (D), 341, 323, and 302 read with 34 of IPC, Section 8 of POCSO. Since the case involved the sexual harassment of a minor girl, the POCSO Act was invoked, he mentioned.
Uppala Madhavi, mother of the deceased boy, in her complaint, stated that the accused was harassing her daughter in the name of love. She alleged that the accused used abusive language when she was going to college.
Knowing this problem, Amarnath opposed the accused and his friends, who were supporting his activities. In the recent past, there were clashes between the deceased and the accused many times on the issue.
At that time, the accused threatened to kill Amarnath, the victim’s mother mentioned in her complaint. As Amarnath was going to a tuition class in the early morning between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., the accused along with his friends stopped him, beat him up and then dragged him to a nearby agriculture field, where they poured petrol on him and set him afire, she alleged in her complaint.
The SP informed that the inquest and post-mortem were completed and the investigation is ongoing.
