A string of sexual assaults against Dalit girls in particular marred the reputation of Kulithalai region of Karur district over the past one-and-a-half-years.
Monday’s rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl near K. Pichampatti comes on top of five cases of molestations in the past in the region.
Last Friday, a tenth standard student of the Government Adi Dravida Welfare High School at Kottaimedu near Kulithalai was sexually assaulted by a youth of the area when she was returning home at Parali from her school.
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When the police did not take concrete action against the accused, the people of the village resorted to a road roko on the Mangammal Salai near the victim’s place to demand the arrest of the youth.
In May, a fifth standard girl student was sexually assaulted by her neighbour at Periyaputhur near Thogamalai and the police arrested the accused.
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Around the same time, an eighth standard student was molested by her neighbour at Chinthalavadi and the outraged public caught the accused and handed him over to police.
Two months ago, at Kavalkaranpatti, a tenth standard student was molested by three persons whom the police secured later. But when the news broke out, the girl set herself ablaze to end her life.
In 2013, a four-year-old girl child was molested at a balwadi near Neithalur.
The public caught the accused and handed him over to the police.