My head hangs in shame: Chandrababu Naidu condemns Vizag gang rape incident, criticizes Andhra govt

VISHAKAPATNAM: TDP chief and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, on Monday expressed anguish and concern over the incident where a 16-year-old girl was gang raped by eight men in Vizag. Taking to X, Naidu wrote, "My head hangs in shame, and my heart aches at this heinous crime in Vizag."4

Naidu lamented the utter law and order failure in the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh and emphasised the distressing reality faced by the daughters and sisters of the state, highlighting the alarming impunity with which criminals operate, especially those preying on women. "Criminals continue to hurt our daughters and sisters without fearing the law because they know there is no law and order in a YSRCP-ruled Andhra Pradesh. Forget women empowerment, YS Jagan's vision seems to only empower criminals who prey on women," he wrote in his post on X.

Earlier on Sunday, police arrested eight people in connection with the gang rape incident in Vizag. According to officials, Vizag police carried out their investigation based on a missing complaint received on December 18 by the parents of the minor.

"Based on a complaint received by the minor girl's parents on December 18, we registered a missing case on the same day and started an investigation. We received information that she was in Odisha. Immediately, our police team went there and brought her back on December 25," DCP Srinuvas said.

DCP said that during the investigation, the victim revealed that she went to a hotel room with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend had physical relations with her and later called his friend to the hotel. His friend forced the victim to get physical and raped her. After being raped by her boyfriend and his friend, the victim reached the RK beach.

"At the beach, she met with a photographer who pretended to comfort and console her and took her to his friend's room. There, along with the photographer, seven other people raped the minor for two days. After this, the girl managed to escape from there and ran away," the DCP said. "We have registered a case under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act and have arrested 8 people. Efforts to nab the other accused involved are underway," he added.