A 36-year-old man from a village near Coimbatore was arrested on Saturday on charges of sexually assaulting a minor girl and impregnating her. The police said the accused , a daily wage worker, was from a village near Karumathampatty.
The All Women Police Station (AWPS), Perur, received an alert from the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on September 8 that a minor girl was admitted to the labour ward. Though the police team led by AWPS inspector S. Amutha rushed to CMCH, the girl was found to have vacated the ward without informing hospital authorities.
The next day, the police received an intimation from the Government Hospital, Mettupalayam that the same girl was admitted to the labour ward and she gave birth to a male baby. The police team collected the statement of the minor. The girl told the police that she was sexually assaulted by her neighbour.
During investigation, it was found that the accused had sexually assaulted the girl at his residence on multiple occasions in January and February this year when the wife had gone to her paternal home for delivery.
The neighbour was arrested under Sections 5 (l) (penetrative sexual assault on the child more than once or repeatedly), (j) (ii) (impregnating the child) read with 6 (punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. He was remanded in judicial custody.
