The city police on Tuesday arrested 17 persons, including the prime accused, a 56-year-old lift operator, for aggravated sexual assault on a 11-year-old hearing-impaired girl in an apartment in Ayanavaram. In an unexpected development, lawyers thrashed them when they were produced in a court on the High Court campus. The lawyers did not allow the police to escort the accused out of the court.
The accused were apprehended on a complaint by the girl’s mother, lodged with the All Women Police, Ayanavaram, on Monday. The complaint said the child had been sexually assaulted by several men, all service staff in the gated community she lives in, between January 15 and July 5. It was lift operator Ravikumar who initiated the sexual assault, using isolated places in the apartment complex to commit the offence. He later brought in two of his accomplices, who also sexually assaulted the girl. They reportedly threatened her with knives and with photos and videos showing her naked, preventing her from talking to her family. Subsequently, other staff too started raping her, the complaint said.
Remanded till July 31
The suspects were produced before Mahila Court on Tuesday, which remanded them in judicial custody until July 31. Violence ensued as the police tried to escort them out of the court hall.
