The Pothuturpet police in Tiruvallur district on Saturday arrested five persons, including a 21-year-old youth, the prime suspect, and four others for the gang rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl, who went missing five months ago at a village near Pallipattu in Tiruvallur district.
Disgruntled relative
The police said the prime suspect Shankaraya, who is her relative, confessed to having committed the crime since she spurned his proposal for marriage. The victim has been identified as the daughter of an agricultural labourer.
She studied Class X at a government high school. As the girl did not return home from school on September 7, her father lodged a complaint with the Pothaturpet police.
There was no progress in the case till last Sunday when a half-buried skeleton was spotted near a canal. A school uniform,and other items were found with it. The parents identified them as the girl’s belongings.
Sekar, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Tiruttani, intensified the investigation and detained Shankaraya two days ago, as he was last seen with the victim. He confessed to the crime during interrogation. The accused made advances when the victim was on her way to school.
He kidnapped her after being spurned. He took her to a shed in a farm and raped her, the police said. She was tied up and repeatedly raped by the farm’s owner Nathamuni, 48, and his three friends Jagadish, 42, Krishnamurthy, 40, and Mohanraj, 35, for five days, they added.
The police said she was then murdered and buried near the shed. The offenders removed the body and reburied it a few days later, the police said.
Charged money
According to the police, Shankaraya told them that he had sold the girl to the other offenders for ₹4,000 each.
After interrogation, the Pothuthurpet police booked a case against the five men, including Shankaraya, for offences including kidnapping, wrongful confinement, gang rape and death under Sections of Indian Penal Code and Section 6 (Punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. They were produced before a court in Tiruvallur and remanded in judicial custody.
