Sat Jun 28 01:51:18 UTC 2025: **Summary:**

A court in Visakhapatnam, India, has sentenced Appala Raju, 50, to death for murdering six members of his neighbor’s family in April 2021. The victims included two children and three women. The motive was a long-standing personal grudge stemming from Appala Raju’s daughter’s relationship with a member of the victim’s family and a subsequent police complaint. The victims were attacked while they slept.

**News Article:**

**Man Sentenced to Death for Heinous Family Massacre in Andhra Pradesh**

**Visakhapatnam, India – June 28, 2025** – A court in Visakhapatnam has handed down the death penalty to Appala Raju, 50, for the brutal murders of six members of a neighboring family in V. Juttada village in April 2021. The Fourth Additional District and Sessions Court delivered the sentence on Friday, finding Raju guilty of the premeditated killings of B. Ramana (61), B. Usha Rani (31), B. Uday Nandan (3), B. Lishitha (6 months), Allu Ramadevi (47), and N. Aruna (46). Judge M. Nageswara Rao also imposed a fine of ₹10,000 on the convicted murderer.

The heinous crime stemmed from a personal grudge between Raju and the victim’s family. According to Additional Public Prosecutor M. Khajana Rao, tensions arose after Raju filed a police complaint in 2018 related to his daughter’s relationship with Vijay Kiran, a member of the murdered family.

The victims, who had travelled from Vijayawada to attend a relative’s wedding, were attacked while they slept. Vijay Kiran and his elder son survived the massacre as they were not present at the house during the horrific event. The sentence brings a measure of closure to a case that has shocked and saddened the local community.

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