AP: 2 years on, rescued girl still trembles with fear

Nellore: “Boochodu” is how seven-year-old Narthana remembers R Nagesh, the lover of her mother Nagachaitanya. Even two years after she was rescued from the clutches of her mother and Nagesh, who tortured the girl for unwittingly making their affair public, Narthana trembles whenever she hears Nagesh’s name. The mother and her lover were sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment by the court on Tuesday.

Narthana, who is put up at the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) project home in Nellore, is unaware of the imprisonment. While she trembles at the mention of Nagesh, the girl still loves her mother. “I love my mother. But I am happy here as I have so many good friends,” she says.

The girl, who was rescued by ICDS officials from Nagachaitanya and her paramour in September 2010 when she was in class I, is continuing her studies from the ICDS home. “As the case is under trial, we could not enrol her in a regular school. She is now into class III and will join a regular school shortly,” ICDS project director P Vijayalakshmi told Express.

On hearing about the imprisonment of Nagachaitanya and Nagesh, their neighbours and colleagues who are aware of Narthana’s hardship, gave vent to their ire. Recalling the brutal treatment meted out to the girl, washerman G Gopal said one day he saw Narthana jump over the compound wall and get injured. “She was being chased by Nagesh who was holding a hot iron rod. I gave shelter to the girl in my hut and later handed her over to Nagachaitanya. When I told her about the incident, Nagachaitanya replied that Narthana was only being reprimanded as she was skipping classes frequently,” he said.

One of Narthana’s classmates, who is now in class V, recalled that Nagesh, who was the correspondent of the private school where Narthana studied, thrashed the girl brutally. “Nagesh sir kicked Narthana in the stomach with his boot although she did nothing wrong. She was just writing numbers on her slate,” she recalls, adding that this could be the reason for the liver damage reported by Narthana’s doctors.

Ironically, Nagachaitanya is termed as an excellent teacher by her colleagues and students at Venkatachalam ZP High School. “She always behaved in a funny manner and appeared very affectionate towards her daughter, but we never thought she was such cruel mother,” said E Anuradha, a teacher. V Pallavi, who is now studying class X, recalled that Nagachaitanya was a brilliant teacher in mathematics.