The Chennai City police on Tuesday arrested 17 persons, mostly services staff of an apartment complex, for committing aggravated sexual assault on a girl child below 12 years in Ayanavaram, for period of nearly seven months beginning January.
The victim, a hearing impaired girl, is a resident of an apartment in Ayanavaram. She was subjected to sexual assault by the lift man Ravikumar, and his two accomplices. Other services staff in the apartment also raped her, and threatened her with death if she told her parents about it.
Ravikumar (56), Suresh (32), Rajasekar (40), Erald Bross (58), B.J. Sugumaran (65), and 12 others were arrested by All Women Police, Ayanavaram, and were produced before the Mahila Court for remand.
The offenders were booked under Sections 307(Attempt to murder), 506(ii)(criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code and section 5(Aggravated Penetrative Sexual Assault) 6(Punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault), 9(Aggravated sexual assault), 10(Punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) and 12(Sexual harassment) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
Sources said the offenders have admitted to the crime and police are interrogating eight more suspects.
The incident came to light after the victim’s mother approached the police after noticing red mark on her daughter’s neck on July 13.
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