A 14-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped by an 18-year-old boy, consumed poison and died at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital here on Thursday night.
On September 3, the girl who comes from a village in the Veeraganur police station limit in Gangavalli Taluk left home to see her mother, a labourer, working in the area. However, the girl did not return home. A search by her mother failed to locate her. On Sunday, cattle grazers in the nearby lake found her with her hands tied with a rope. They informed her mother and the girl was taken home. The girl told her mother that the boy had tied her hands up and raped her.
On Monday evening, the girl consumed poison and was admitted to the Government Hospital at Attur and later shifted to the Salem hospital.
Based on a complaint from her mother, the police registered a case under Sections 5 (l) and 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and arrested the boy.
He was produced in the court and sent to Borstal School in Rasipuram in Namakkal district.
The boy had completed his Plus-Two and had joined a college in Namakkal, but did not attend classes.
Meanwhile, the girl, who was undergoing treatment at the Salem GH, died in the late hours of Thursday. The police altered the sections by including Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of IPC.
The girl’s mother said that her family could face threat from the relatives of the accused and hence sought protection.
A post-mortem was done on Friday and the body was handed over to the relatives.
Police sources said that the boy, who was a resident of a nearby village, and the girl were in love for the past seven months and she had left home to meet him on Saturday.
Those with a suicidal tendency could contact State’s health helpline 104 or Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050 for counselling.
