Pratyusha at the dinner table with Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
The Hyderabad teenager, who had been abused and tortured, allegedly by her stepmother, said she has accepted Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's offer to stay at his home under his guardianship.
The Hyderabad high court today directed that Pratyusha be sent to the Chief Minister's residence after the girl told Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale that Mr Rao had met her during her hospitalisation and offered to take care of her "like his own daughter".
The 19-year-old girl also told the court that she does not wish to have anything to do with her biological father, who, according to her, stood by and watched while her stepmother torture her for over 18 months.
Moved by media reports, Mr Rao and his family visited her at the hospital around 10 days ago and offered to take care of her, she said. He said he would support her education and would also get her married, she also told the court.
Pratyusha was then taken directly to the Chief Minister's camp office in Begumpet in a police vehicle.
The girl had been rescued from her Hyderabad home on July 8 with over a hundred injuries -- cuts, burns and bruises. Doctors said she was suffering from severe malnourishment, post-traumatic stress disorder, respiratory distress and internal infections and needed long-term care.
Pratyusha alleged that her stepmother tortured her for months, made her drink toilet cleaning liquid, shaved her head and told neighbours that she was mentally challenged. Police said the motive appeared to be the takeover of the property the girl was to inherit.
Her father, a telecom employee, and her stepmother have both been arrested.
Pratyusha has said she does not want any property or anything to do with her family. "I want to study and stand on my own feet. That is my dream," she had said.