Hyderabad, May 12 (IANS): In a horrific incident, a man raped a tribal woman even after she died while resisting his sexual assault.

A construction worker committed the heinous crime at Choutuppal near Hyderabad on Monday night but was arrested by police on Wednesday.

According to police, E. Harish Goud raped and brutally killed the 28-year-old tribal woman working in a brick kiln warehouse at Choutuppal in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district, about 40 km from Hyderabad.

Finding the victim alone in the warehouse, the accused sought sexual favours. When she refused and threatened to reveal this to her husband, he tried to sexually assault her. As she resisted, he hit her on the face with a log, resulting in bleeding injury.

Police investigations revealed that though the victim succumbed to the assault, he still raped her. After committing the act, he robbed the silver articles she was wearing and escaped.

When the victim's husband reached the warehouse, he found her in a pool of blood. He informed the police, which registered a case and took up investigation.

According to Assistant Commissioner of Police, N. Uday Reddy, the couple, belonging to Nagarkurnool district, had migrated to Choutuppal for livelihood and were working as guards at the warehouse for the past two months.

The accused, hailing from Sangareddy district, was working at a dairy beside it. As the victim's husband was working at a college nearby, she used to be alone in the warehouse. Taking advantage of this, Goud tried to sexually rape her. When she resisted, he battered her face with a log, resulting in her death. The accused confessed to the crime when police picked up and questioned him.

The 25-year-old has been booked for rape, robbery and murder. Chouttuppal police registered a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The accused was produced before a court, which sent him to judicial custody.