The Saravanampatty police on Sunday arrested a middle-aged man for alleged sexual assault on a two-and-a-half-year-old girl near Ganapathy on August 13. The police are on the lookout for another accused in the case.
The police said that two men were booked for alleged sexual assault on the chilld, daughter of a 26-year-old from Pappanaickenpalayam.
According to the police, the woman had separated from her husband. While going for work, she used to hand over her daughter to a woman at Ganapthy for babysitting, for which a payment of ₹3,000 was given per month. The police said that the woman recently went to Thanjavur. Her husband and daughter were staying at the house. On August 13, the girl’s mother dropped her at the house as usual and went for work.
The next day she noticed injuries on her daughter’s body and took her to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. Doctors opined that she could have been assaulted sexually.
The woman lodged a complaint at the Saravanampatti police station, levelling charges of sexual assault against the babysitter woman’s husband and his friend, who used to visit the house. The two were booked under various Sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act including 5 (i) (whoever commits sexual assault causing grievous hurt or causing bodily harm and injury or injury to sexual organs of the child), (l) (whoever commits penetrative sexual assault on the child more than once or repeatedly), m (whoever commits sexual assault on a child below 12 years) read with 6 (punishment for penetrative sexual assault).
The arrested man was identified as the friend of the woman’s husband.
