CCTVs, police picket in place but Hajipur village still in fear

HYDERABAD: After arrest of alleged serial killer Srinivas Reddy from Hajipur village last month, the Rachakonda police fixed CCTV cameras at 12 places in the village and a 24/7 police picket has also been set up there.
Apart from police security, the local authorities have added an additional bus for the village. “The frequency has increased to the village,” bus conductor Balraj says.
All this is too little, too late for Yadamma’s family. It was on April 25 that her 14-year-old granddaughter was raped and murdered by Srinivas. Her body thrown into a village well.
“All the villagers had fanned out in the area to look for her when they found her bag in the fields. They found her body in the well close by,” recalled her parents Nagalaxmi and Narasimha. “Srinivas was there during the search and even guided those who entered the well to look for the body. At that time no one suspected him. We find this difficult to come to terms with.”
There is also talk in the village that Srinivas wrote the names of his victims on a tree trunk and lit incense sticks there, but this could not be verified.
Mallesham, father of a 17-year-old victim, is still inconsolable. “I had asked her to discontinue her studies, but she was keen to complete school,” he says. “Did I made a mistake by allowing her to go to school?” he asks between sobs.
His three other daughters have already married. His wife had died a few years ago. In March, when his daughter went missing, he had searched for her all over but did not give a police complaint as he hoped to find her. The girl’s body was later found in the same well as the 14-year-old. “My daughter is dead. No girl in the village is safe with the thought that the man who killed her is still alive,” said Mallesham.
The third victim was from neighbouring Maisireddypally. The 11-yearold had disappeared four years ago from Hajipur where she gone to visit her aunt. The news of the two bodies led her father Pungani Nandan to connect the dots and file a police complaint. “My daughter’s body was also found in another well,” he said.
Hajipur is an isolated hamlet. “There is no village after us in the mandal. So, only those who belong to the village come here. There is a need for bridge to connect Hajipur with Bhuvanagiri,” Hajipur sarpanch Kavitha Venkatesh told TOI.
Today, the house of the accused, which is close to the gram panchayat office, lies in ruins. It had been set ablaze by the villagers. Srinivas’s parents and brother have also fled the village.
But that hasn’t abated the anger. Recently, hundreds of residents from five surrounding villages came together and held a rally with one demand: hang him in public.