RAMANATHAPURAM
The district police have arrested four persons – all in their early 20s – on charges of kidnapping and gang raping a Dalit girl.
The police said the girl, a Class IX dropout, was travelling in an autorickshaw with a friend here recently when the friend and autorickshaw driver, who turned out to be his friend, kidnapped her and gang raped her along with a few others on the outskirts of the town.
The police identified the arrested persons as K. Madan (23), autorickshaw driver, M. Palaniselvam (22), T. Pradap (20) and K. Sathish Kumar (24), a tractor driver. They were arrested under Section 6 and 5 (G) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, read with Section 366 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code.
Hours after the girl met Superintendent of Police Omprakash Meena on Wednesday and lodged a complaint, a special team of Serious Crime Squad (SCS), led by Inspector V. Radha, arrested the accused. The police said one of them, Madan, got married only four days ago. They were produced before a magistrate court, which remanded them in judicial custody on Thursday.
After Ramanathapuram All-Women Police registered a first information report, the special team launched a hunt for one Ramakrishnan (22), the girl’s friend, a driver, and his friend Balamurugan, who went absconding after the police arrested the four accused.
The all-women police rescued the victim and were keeping her under their care. She would be sent for a medical examination after which she would be produced before a magistrate for recording her confessional statement under Section 164 of the IPC, the police said.
Enquiries revealed that the minor girl, who was with her mother and stepfather after her father left the family, was pushed into flesh trade a few months ago with the knowledge of her mother. The girl could name and identify only six persons though some more persons were also believed to have been involved in the crime, the police said.
