Woman raped, killed in Nallamala forests

Nagarkurnool: In yet another incident of a rape and murder in the Nallamala forests, the body of a woman aged around 40-50 years was found in a decomposed state just 3 km away from the Srisailam Highway between Eegalapenta and Vatvarlapally villages of Amrabad mandal on Sunday afternoon.

According to Achampet Deputy Superintendent of Police Narsimhulu, forest officials of Domalapenta range, who were conducting combing operations in the forest area, found foul smell emanating from the forest and informed Domalapenta police about the body of a woman found inside the forest.

A pink coloured bag was also found near the crime scene and police believe that the woman, who was identified as Shantha Ravi Mudaliyar, a native of Mumbai, was one of the devotees heading to Srisailam, who might have trusted the wrong persons and ended up being raped and strangulated to death. Police are also not ruling out human sacrifice since lemons, kumkum and flowers were also found near the body. Police believe that the woman might have been murdered a week ago, going by the decomposed condition of the body.

Achampet DSP said some devotees from Karnataka and



Maharashtra take this forest route during this time of the year (Shivrathri season) to walk through to visit the famous Akka Mahadevi temple before heading to Srisailam. DSP Narsimhulu also appealed to devotees not to believe in strangers while entering the forest. This was not the first time such an incident happened. Around 2 years ago, the entire region was shocked when skeletal remains of some young women were found near the Akka Mahadevi caves. Though the then SP Sunpreet Singh had ruled out any murder and had said that those deaths could have taken place long back, this particular murder once again comes to haunt the people of Nallamala. 

The DSP said a doctor would be called to the spot to conduct post-mortem of the deceased.There have been several incidents of treasure hunting near these caves and literally everywhere inside the Nallamala forest’s historical and archaeological sites in the recent past. About six months ago, some treasure hunters were caught and handed over to police by the locals from Mannanuru when they were found suspiciously roaming around the area. According to sources, the body was cremated.