Epurupalem:
The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday extended an ex-gratia sum of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of a murdered 21-year-old woman who may have been raped before being killed at Epurupalem village in Bapatla district.
Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha said that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu extended the ex-gratia.
Anitha personally visited the spot where the woman’s body was found unclothed on Friday morning near a railway track at Sitarampuram area in the village.
“The culprits should be captured within 48 hours. There is no room for laxity and the CM has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh,” Anitha said, talking to reporters at the crime scene.
According to the home minister, the woman was from a poor family and eked out a living as a seamstress, while her father was a weaver.
The family members told the minister that they do not suspect anybody as they did not know of any instance of anyone possibly having stalked their daughter.
Earlier, Bapatla Superintendent of Police Vakul Jindal visited the crime scene and conducted an inquiry.
“The woman had gone to attend nature’s call between 5.30 am and 5.45 am but did not return home, prompting her family members to launch a search for her. She was eventually found dead,” Jindal said in a press release.
Police suspect that the woman was raped before being murdered. Only after a post-mortem examination can it be confirmed.
A case has been registered and five police teams have been formed to investigate the murder.