Velavadam, accused's village, labels him a philanthropist

Velavadam, accused's village, labels him a philanthropist
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

VIJAYAWADA, JANUARY 23: It's a show perfectly managed. His beneficiaries are vociferous in extolling the services of the philanthropist.

The situation in Velvadam in Krishna district, the native village of Lakireddy Bali Reddy, accused in a sex scandal in the USA, has changed overnight. Those who spoke to the press on Friday, could not be traced yesterday and their houses are locked.

Wherever reporters went, a group of villagers followed and kept listing out Bali Reddy's philanthropic activities. "The village had no school. Today there are three, all housed in pucca buildings. Drinking water is now available. Temples and bus shelters have come up. Many families have benefited," the chorus continued.

The real parents of Vemireddy Sita, who died due to carbon monoxide poisoning in a flat in Berkeley, have also left the village. Their neighbours refuse to speak a word on their whereabouts.

"Why do you disturb us? Don't you see the house locked? They left this morning," shouted a woman on Saturday whennewsmen questioned her. Sita's parents refused to talk to the press on Friday. They even disowned her.

Enquiries revealed that Sita was sent to the USA with the help of fictitious documents. In official records, she was stated to be the daughter of Vemireddy Venkateswara Reddy, while her real parents are Dalits. In this case, a brother and sister were recorded as husband and wife, and Sita, not related to them in any way, was shown to be their daughter.

These are the kind of discrepancies that the USA authorities are now investigating. Bali Reddy is also charged with "importing girls for the purpose of prostitution and of inducing immigrants to illegally enter and live in the United States". The Oakland federal court is seized of the matter.

Bali Reddy's brother Lakireddy Venkateswara Reddy, who came to Velvadam from the USA on his regular annual holiday a fortnight ago, told reporters that his brother's aim was "to help everybody who seeks support. There may be some minor changes in documents here andthere to help them".

According to him, everyone went to the USA voluntarily. ``My brother did not ask anybody to work in his hotels there. They approached him for jobs. He obliged them," Venkateswara Reddy said. He clarified that most of the employees were men, and the women were their wives.

Yellanki Venkateswarlu (45) and Somamma (38), parents of Lakshmi (15), Sita's roommate, were present in Bali Reddy's estate along with a host of villagers. At first, they refused to talk. On persistent questioning, there were conflicting versions of how Lakshmi reached USA. But all of them maintained that Lakshmi was sent to work in the hotel on their request. "How can we sell our only girl?" Somamma asked.