Accused in Andhra woman volunteer's murder commits suicide

Amaravati, May 19

A man who brutally murdered a woman village volunteer in Andhra Pradesh's Bapatla district four days ago committed suicide on Thursday.

Padma Rao (35), who was on the run after stabbing the woman to death on May 15, jumped under a train in Ponnur town in the early hours of Thursday. According to police, he killed himself under the Tirupati-Visakhapatnam double-decker train at Nidubrolu railway station.

Based on the identity card found in the deceased's pocket, police informed the family and they reached the spot to identify the body as that of Padma Rao.

Rao had stabbed to death D. Sharada (27), with whom he had an extramarital relation in the past.

He attacked her when she was engaged in some work in front of her house in Chavali village in Vemuru mandal of the district on Sunday evening.

When she tried to run and save herself, he chased her and stabbed her on the neck and escaped on his two-wheeler. The victim died on the spot.

The woman's mother lodged a complaint with the police against Padma Rao. Police had registered a case and began a hunt for the accused.

According to local residents, Sharada was married to a man of the same village in 2008 and they have two sons and a daughter. Four years ago, she developed a friendship with Padma Rao and soon this led to intimate relations between them.

The deceased's mother said when Sharada's husband came to know about her relations with Padma Rao, she had stopped meeting him. Angered over change in her behaviour, Padma Rao had slapped her near the village secretariat about six months ago, following which a complaint was lodged with the police, which let off the accused with a warning.

However, Padma Rao wanted to take revenge on the woman for not continuing the relationship and accordingly he killed her.

Village volunteer system was introduced by the state government in 2019 to ensure better delivery of various benefits to the public under welfare schemes.