The man, who is suspected to have attempted to molest a seven-year-old nomad girl sleeping with her family at Payyannur, is absconding, according to the police.
The police identified the suspect as P.T. Baby Raj (27), a native of Payyannur. The police said that he was suspected to have gone to Bengaluru.
The police also drew criticism that there was delay in registering the case on the day the incident occurred.
According to the police, the incident had occurred in the wee hours of May 10.
The suspect had tried to abduct the sleeping girl. When the girl had cried aloud, her parents and relatives had woken up and chased him. The girl had been rescued by them.
Suspect injured
In the melee, the suspect had suffered an injury in the head. Though the police had found him in suspicious circumstances in the early hours that day.
He had been admitted to hospital at Payyannur when he told the police that he had suffered injuries when he fell from his motorcycle.
The police told the child’s relatives that they should come to the police station the next day if they wanted to lodge a complaint.
The police registered the case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act on May 12 after the attempt of the suspect to hand over a cheque for ₹50,000 to the victim’s father failed.
The Payyannur police said that the case was registered after the victim’s relatives lodged the complaint around 2 p.m. on Saturday. Immediately, the victim was produced before the magistrate.
The police said that a suo motu case could not be practical in a case under the POCSO Act without the consent of the victim’s relatives as the police could not take the victim to the magistrate and for medical examination without the cooperation of the relatives.
