Auto driver, accomplice held for assaulting two schoolgirls in AP's Machilipatnam

Police in Andhra Pradesh’s Krishna district on Monday arrested two men for allegedly sexually abusing two minor girls, officials said.

Speaking at a press conference, Krishna district SP V Vidyasagar Naidu said the two victims, both 13-year-old students of Class 8, had left for home from their hostel on August 6.

The girls boarded an auto-rickshaw at Machilipatnam but the auto driver and his accomplice allegedly took them to an isolated location on the outskirts of the city, where they sexually assaulted the two girls.

Based on a complaint filed by the victims' parents, police registered a case under the relevant sections of BNS and POCSO Act, the SP said.

Police have arrested the accused duo, both residents of Bandar Rural Mandal, and seized the auto-rickshaw and two mobile phones from their possession, the officer said.