india

Updated: Feb 12, 2019 19:35 IST

A pharmacist was gang-raped and murdered at Navuluru in Andhra Pradesh’s new capital Amaravati while she was out with her boyfriend late Monday night, police said.

The woman was found in a pool of blood and police suspect a blood stained iron rod found at the site of the crime may have been used to kill her and attack her friend. The police said the crime took place in an isolated place behind a cricket stadium. Empty beer bottles were also strewn around, the police said.

The victim’s boyfriend is battling for life in a hospital at Mangalagiri with critical head injuries. In a statement to the police, he said he was attacked by a gang when he went to her rescue.

The 22-year-old victim completed her Masters degree in pharmacy from a college in Guntur this year.

Her brother said she had received a phone call from a woman on Monday morning asking her to collect her certificates from the college and she left home immediately. He received another call from an unidentified person on Tuesday morning saying his sister was found dead near the cricket stadium.

“They were in love for over three years. I even warned him to leave her,” the brother said. He also suspects the survivor’s involvement in the crime.

P. Ramakrishna, deputy superintendent of police in Mangalagiri said police could not pursue the case on the allegations of the victim’s brother alone as the woman’s friend was also badly injured in the attack.

“A manhunt has been launched and we will probe the case from all angles,” the DSP said.

The rape and murder has sent shock waves in the new capital.

K. Sridevi, a spokesman of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), said the murder and gang rape indicated the fact that Amaravati is not safe for women. “The policing is limited to the areas inhabited by VIPs and the locations where the government offices are situated. There is a need to step up patrolling covering all the vulnerable areas, particularly suburbs,” Sridevi said.