As the country witnesses a spontaneous outrage over the Delhi gang-rape, an orphaned adolescent girl, who was sold for Rs. 5,000 by her stepmother to do domestic chores at a house in Ammapet, in Salem, was allegedly raped by a 35-year-old man besides being abused by the 57-year-old house owner.
Based on a complaint, Salem City Police arrested the two and remanded them in judicial custody. The girl, as per the orders of Judicial Magistrate IV, has been sent to Life Line Trust, a home for destitute women. Steps have been taken to conduct medical tests on the victim as well as the accused at the Salem Government Medical College Hospital.
She and her 12-year-old sister were found wandering at the New Integrated Bus stand here. Child Line volunteers picked them up and handed them over to Life Line Trust, where they narrated their sordid tale of abuse, which they experienced for nearly a year.
“Unable to bear the physical pain and trauma, the victim and her younger sister fled the house,” a Trust member told The Hindu . Based on her statement, the home authorities gave a complaint to Police Commissioner K. C. Mahali.
Police investigation revealed that the parents of the girls abandoned them after they separated. Their grandmother looked after them till her death some two months ago.
