Hyderabad: 4-yr-old branded, girl's mother arrested

HYDERABAD: A four-year-old girl was branded and beaten up by her mother and the latter's lover at Moosarambagh. Police on Monday rescued the girl and registered a case against her mother. Later, the woman was arrested.
The victim, M Renuka, a resident of Moosarambagh, was being tortured by her mother M Saritha.

"Saritha got married to Venkatesh over five years ago. After a family dispute, they got separated and she moved to Hyderabad from Nalgonda," Malakpet inspector R Devendar said.

Saritha was having an affair with one Venkat Reddy for the past two years. "The child was a hindrance for her and her paramour. She was beating up and taking out her frustration on the child for the past one week. We also found that Venkat had also thrashed the child," the inspector added.

On Monday, police were informed about the incident by former MLA D Sudheer Reddy and a child rights NGO. "A few people approached me complaining about a child being beaten up in their locality. Along with representatives of an NGO, I went to rescue the child with the help of police. The child was in a bad shape, beaten up black and blue. Seeing the condition of the child, I have decided to take care of her education and other expenses," the former MLA added.

"The child was beaten up and branded on her hand by a hot spoon by Saritha. We registered a case under Section 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the IPC and relevant sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and arrested Saritha," inspector said. However, Saritha's partner Venkat Reddy is on the run.