The Andhra Pradesh Police on Tuesday arrested 74 people in Guntur district in connection with the rape of a minor girl and a prostitution racket that was busted in January, The New Indian Express reported.
The arrested accused are kingpins, pimps and customers, reported The Times of India.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Additional Superintendent of Police K Supraja said that 80 people have been identified and booked for abusing the girl. Of these, the police said, six people are still missing.
“Of the total, 35 are prostitution organisers,” Supraja said, The New Indian Express reported. “Taking the advantage of the girl’s situation, several gangs purchased her and took her to various districts where she was forced into prostitution.”
So far, the police has seized 53 mobile phones, a car, three autorickshaws and three motorcycles.
For over eight months, the 13-year-old girl was allegedly sent to different brothels in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, reported The Times of India.
The girl was reportedly adopted by a woman named Swarna Kumari, who is also the main accused in the case.
Kumari had befriended the girl’s mother in a Covid-19 hospital in June 2021, according to The Times of India. After the mother died due to the coronavirus disease, Kumari took the girl away under the pretext of looking after her.
According to the police, Kumari later forced the minor girl into prostitution.
The police launched a search for her when the girl’s father lodged a complaint in August 2021.
“One of the accused in this case is in London,” Supraja told India Today.
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