Amaravati, A woman village volunteer has been brutally murdered in Andhra Pradesh's Bapatla district by a man, with whom she had extramarital relations in the past.

D. Sharada (27) was stabbed to death in front of her house in the Chavali village in Vemuru mandal of the district on Sunday evening.

The woman was cleaning the house when the man, identified as Padma Rao, attacked her with a knife. When she tried to run and save herself, he chased her and stabbed her on the neck and escaped on his two-wheeler. The victim died on the spot.

The woman's mother lodged a complaint with the police against Padma Rao. Police registered a case and began a hunt for the accused.

According to local residents, Sharada was married to a man of the same village in 2008 and they have two sons and a daughter. Four years ago, she developed a friendship with Padma Rao and soon this led to intimate relations between them.

The deceased's mother said when Sharada's husband came to know about her relations with Padma Rao, she had stopped meeting him. Angered over change in her behaviour, Padma Rao had slapped her near the village secretariat about six months ago. A complaint was lodged with the police, which let off the accused with a warning.

However, Padma Rao wanted to take revenge on the woman for not continuing the relationship and accordingly he stabbed her to death on Sunday.

Village volunteer system was introduced by the state government in 2019 to ensure better delivery of various benefits to the public under welfare schemes.