The body of a 55-year-old man, who was accused of sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl in Dachepalli village in this district on Wednesday night, was found hanging from a tree today, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister N. China Rajappa said.
The minister, who visited Dachepalli in Guntur this afternoon to meet the kin of the girl, said he received information that the body was found at Daida village and villagers identified him as Annam Subbaiah.
Rajappa said that Subbaiah was the accused in the sexual assault case.
The incident took place on the night of May 2, police said.
Subbaiah, a rickshaw-puller, committed the crime after luring the girl to his house nearby promising her chocolates, they said.
Special teams were formed to trace Subbaiah who was absconding after the incident.
Earlier in the day, Rajappa and other ministers visited the Government General Hospital in Guntur where the girl is recovering.
They handed over a cheque for Rs 5 lakh as compensation from the state government to the girl's family.
Later, Rajappa told reporters that effective steps would be taken to prevent such heinous crimes.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had yesterday condemned the incident and directed police to take stringent action against the accused.
The incident caused a stir in Dachepalli as irate villagers blocked traffic on the Addanki-Narketpalli highway for several hours and a bandh was observed on Thursday demanding stern action against the accused.
Director General of Police M. Malakondaiah visited the village this morning to take stock of the situation.
Subbaiah was married twice and was staying with his son at Dachepalli, the DGP said.
The incident comes amid outrage over the Kathua incident in which an eight-year old girl was allegedly held captive, tortured and raped before being killed.