TIRUPATI: A 19-year-old youth allegedly slit the throat of a minor girl after she reportedly refused to marry him, at Agraharam under Khazipet mandal in Kadapa district on Friday. The girl died of excessive bleeding, while the accused has been arrested, police said.According to Khazipet police, accused Venkatesh, a resident of Anjaneya Kottala village, had been harassing the 16-year-old girl and asking her to marry him. He did not stop even after she told him that she would only marry the person of her parents’ choice.On Friday morning, when the girl’s parents were away and she was alone at home, Venkatesh barged in and picked up an altercation with her over the same issue. As their argument heated up, he pulled out a knife that he was carrying along and slit her throat. As she screamed for help and collapsed, Venkatesh fled the spot. Neighbours rushed the girl to a hospital and were making arrangements to shift her to Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Kadapa, but she died of excessive bleeding. The Khazipet police registered a case and shifted the girl’s body for a post-mortem examination to RIMS-Kadapa, after which it was handed over to the family. Police took Venkatesh into custody within a few hours of the murder as he was trying to flee. Meanwhile, the girl’s family and relatives, along with representatives of various women’s groups, staged protests at Khazipet, demanding justice for the girl and stern punishment for Venkatesh.
