In a shocking incident, a 35-year-old man tried to tie ‘thali’ around the neck of schoolgirl on a running bus in Melur on Tuesday. However, the girl and fellow passengers foiled his attempt.
The man, identified as R. Kallanai of Melavalavu, was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
The police said that Kallanai, working as a salesman in a TASMAC shop in Melavalavu, had been following the girl for the last 15 days.
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“He said that he liked the girl and hence wanted to marry her,” Deputy Superintendent of Police (Melur) Mangaleswaran said.
The minor girl, also from Melavalvu, was studying in class XII in the Government Higher Secondary School in Melur. She used to travel by the State-run bus from Melavalavu to Melur regularly.
On Tuesday morning, when the bus reached Melur bus stand, the man went closer to her, who was in school uniform, and tried to tie a yellow thread around her neck.
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However, the alert girl prevented him and raised an alarm. The passengers, who were up on their feet to get down from the bus, pulled him out. The irate crowd also beat him up.
The accused told the police that he had been following the girl for the last few days. “A few days back, the girl had complained to her mother about the man following her. When she questioned him, the accused had pleaded ignorance,” Inspector of Police (All Women Police Station, Melur) V. Ambiga said.
Based on a complaint preferred by the girl, the police also booked him for assault on the girl with an intention to outrage her modesty, criminal intimidation and under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act.
The accused was produced before a court which remanded him in judicial custody.