In a gruesome murder case, a nine-year-old girl, Puchakayala Venkata Sanvy Reddy, was allegedly killed by the parents who adopted her, P. Lakshmi Padmavathi and…

Parents kill adopted daughter over ‘property disputes’, accused remanded to judicial custody

Police detected the case and arrested the couple, and they were produced in the court on June 9, the offence occurred on June 6

In a gruesome murder case, a nine-year-old girl, Puchakayala Venkata Sanvy Reddy, was allegedly killed by the parents who adopted her, P. Lakshmi Padmavathi and her husband, Venkata Ramana Reddy, over ‘property disputes’ in Ardhaveedu village of Prakasam district.

Police detected the case and arrested the couple, and they were produced in the court, which remanded them to judicial custody on June 9 (Sunday). The offence occurred in their house at Kummaraveedhi in the village on June 6.

According to Kambam Circle-Inspector, J. Ramakotaiah, the accused had no children and they legally adopted Ms. Padmavathi’s brother Ranga Reddy’s daughter, Sanvy Reddy, nine years ago. The victim was studying in the fourth class.

According to the police, certain differences cropped up between Mr. Ranga and Mr. Venkata Ramana’s family, thus the accused allegedly hatched a conspiracy to kill the adopted girl to avoid sharing their property with her. Ms. Lakshmi smothered the girl with a pillow and slit her throat with a knife on June 6, while her husband waited at the main gate to prevent the entry of others into the house. The duo then shifted the girl to an RMP doctor, who declared her brought dead, and they pretended that an unidentified person murdered their daughter and escaped.

Following a complaint lodged by the girl’s biological father, the Ardhaveedu police registered a case and took the accused into custody. During questioning, the accused confessed to murdering the girl. The investigation officers seized the knife used for the offence and the blood-stained clothes from the accused, the CI said. “A case under Section 302 IPC (Murder) has been registered against the accused and they were produced in the court, which remanded them into judicial custody,” he said.