The Alandurai police have arrested a 26-year-old man on charges of sexually assaulting his friend’s stepdaughter, a 10-year-old girl, on multiple occasions for about a year.
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V. Jeevanandham, who hails from a village near Narasipuram, was arrested based on the complaint lodged by the girl’s mother. The police said the woman has two children, including the survivor girl. Her husband allegedly left her 10 years ago due to family issues and she married another person.
As per the complaint lodged by the girl’s mother, the accused sexually assaulted the child on August 8 when she, a Class V student, returned home from school. The accused, a friend of the girl’s stepfather, was at the latter’s residence.
The girl narrated the ordeal to her mother and a complaint was lodged at the Alandurai police station on Saturday. During the investigation, the girl told the police that the accused had been assaulting her sexually for about a year.
The police arrested Jeevanandham for offences under Sections 9 (l) (sexual assault on the child more than once or repeatedly) and 9 (m) (sexual assault on a child below 12 years) read with 10 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. He was produced before a court and was remanded in judicial custody.