Suryapet:

Two men and a 12-year-old girl have died after drowning in a lake in the Suryapet district of Telangana, police said.

The incident occurred on the outskirts of Bopparam village within Atmakur police station limits in the district on Wednesday, they said.

Police said that the victims were attending a birthday party in the village when the incident took place. The bodies have been shifted to Suryapet District Hospital for post-mortem examination.

According to police, the deceased have been identified as Tippareddy Sripalreddy (42), a builder from Khammam, and his friend Shavalya Raju (45), a software professional from Narsaraopet, Andhra Pradesh, and Shavalya Raju’s daughter, Shavalya Usha (12), a student.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

Telangana State Cyber Security Bureau on Sunday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against a YouTuber with regard to inappropriate comments on a child during a chat session.

Director General of Police Ravi Gupta said that the FIR was registered after Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka promised action when actor Sai Dharam Tej reported child abuse online after a YouTuber’s disgusting remark.

The police chief said the police team were identifying them. “Strict action will follow. We are committed to protecting all citizens, especially children. Offenders misusing social media for humour will face justice,” he posted on ‘X’.

The DGP said the government and police would intensify efforts to raise awareness about child safety and responsible social media use.

Earlier, Sai Dharam Tej took to ‘X’ to express outrage and tagged the chief ministers and deputy chief ministers of both the Telugu states to demand necessary action to curb horrific acts like this in future.

“This is beyond gruesome, disgusting and scary. Monsters like these go unnoticed on the very much utilised social platform doing child abuse in the disguise of so-called Fun & Dank. Child Safety is the need of the hour,” he wrote while sharing a video of a Telugu YouTuber making inappropriate comments on a video that features a father and his daughter.

The YouTuber made the comments during a live chat session with his friends.

Dharam Tej, who is nephew of Andhra Pradesh’s Deputy Chief Minister and actor Pawan Kalyan, also requested parents to use ‘some sort of discretion when you post a video or photos of your kids as the world of social media has become ruthless and dangerous and is very difficult to control or stop these animals from becoming violent and dangerous’.

“So kindly please be cautious, aware and take proper care before posting pictures or videos of your children, and to those people who have stooped to such low standards, I hope that you never get to see the turmoil of a parent in regards to your comments,” the actor wrote.

Reacting to his post, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy thanked Dharam Tej for bringing the incident to their notice. “Child safety is the utmost priority for our Govt. Will look into this incident and take appropriate action,” reads the post from the Chief Minister’s official handle on ‘X’.

“Child safety is indeed a top priority. we will ensure that our government takes the necessary steps to prevent child abuse and exploitation on social media platforms. Let’s work together to create a safer online environment for our children,” wrote Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hubballi:

Just weeks after college student Neha Hiremath was stabbed to death by her former classmate, a 21-year-old woman was murdered inside her house by an acquaintance here for allegedly rejecting her love proposal on Wednesday.

Vishwa alias Girish Sawant, 23, knocked on the door of Anjali Ambigera’s residence at Veerapur Oni area at around 5.45 am.

When she opened the door, Girish stabbed her to death with a knife and fled the place, a senior police officer said, adding that her sister was a witness to the brutal murder.

A case of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the accused, police said, adding that teams have been formed to arrest him.

Neha Hiremath, 23, was stabbed to death by her former classmate Fayaz Khodunaik inside her college campus in Hubballi on April 18.

“Girish was harassing my sister Anjali for sometime now. He expressed his love to her but my sister declined. He even pressured my sister to go with him to Mysuru. He had also threatened her that she will meet the same fate as that of Neha Hiremath,” Anjali’s sister Yashodha told reporters here.

“When we informed police about his threats, they didn’t pursue it seriously and today see, my sister is dead,” she said.

Anjali’s family and local residents staged a protest here demanding strict action against the accused. Later, the police reached the spot and dispersed them, assuring them that justice will be delivered.

Anjali’s father Mohan said that around seven months ago she had told them that Girish was harassing her.

“I had warned him (Girish). But today morning, unfortunately my daughter was murdered by this same person. The accused has to be punished,” he said.

No girl should be in the situation that Anjali has been in, her family said, and demanded strict action against the accused who is still at large.

Meanwhile, Congress Councillor Niranjan Hiremath — father of Neha — met the victim’s family and slammed the state government over the “deteriorating” law and order situation in north Karnataka and also sought suspension of Police Commissioner of Hubballi-Dharwad Renuka Sukumar for alleged “failure.” Talking about the brutal murder of Anjali, he said that despite the accused openly threatening the victim that she would meet the same fate as that of Neha, the police did not take the issue seriously when the woman’s family approached them to complaint.

“In less than a month of my daughter’s murder, another brutal and unfortunate murder happened this morning. I have been repeatedly urging the state government and the Home Minister (G Parameshwara) to bring an appropriate law (for such incidents). The police have failed to catch the culprit in Anjali’s case. He openly threatened her with Neha’s incident and yet the police did not take any preventive measure,” he told PTI Videos

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)