The Telangana Police on Tuesday arrested a 28-year-old man for allegedly raping and killing three girls at Hajipur village of Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district. The bodies of the three minors were retrieved in the past week. Marri Srinivas Reddy is also accused of raping another woman in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, the police said, adding that all these rapes occurred in the last four years.
Rachakonda police commissioner Mahesh Bhagawat told reporters in Hyderabad that the accused, identified as Marri Srinivas Reddy, was a bachelor and was addicted to alcohol and pornographic movies.
“He attempted to wipe out pieces of evidence by dumping the dead bodies of three minor girls in abandoned wells in the on the outskirts of the village and that of the Kurnool victim in the water tank of her house,” Bhagawat said.
The case came to light after the body of a 14-year-old girl, who had gone missing on Friday, was retrieved from an abandoned well on the outskirts of Hajipur village, the same night.
On Monday, while the police were combing through the well as part of their investigation, they found the skeletal remains of another girl, who had gone missing from the village in March. While some reports said this girl was 18 years old, others said she was 17. Yadadri Bhuvanagiri Deputy Commissioner of Police Narayana Reddy told, “The body was found in another corner of the well. There was a team of doctors, RDO, and Tehsildar when the body was discovered. We also found a bag along with the body.”
On Tuesday, the skeletal remains of an 11-year-old, who had gone missing in 2015, was traced from another well after Marri Srinivas Reddy confessed to the murder. “Accused has confessed that he is a habitual rapist and murderer and since 2015 has killed three minor girls and a woman after sexually assaulting them,” Bhagawat said.
Reddy’s house was ransacked and set on fire by residents of the village. His family had already fled the village, though none of them were apparently aware of the crimes. Despite the presence of police personnel, the thatched front portion of the house was set on fire and articles inside the house ransacked. According to reports, the residents wanted the police to hand Srinivas over to them. Additional forces were deployed in the village.
