In a grim reminder of rising cases of atrocities against women here, four different incidents of sexual crimes were reported on Friday. The victims include an 83-year-old woman who died and three minor girls. According to Chavara police, the 83-year-old was alone in her house on April 20, Easter day, when she was raped by her neighbour. “She was lying in a pool of blood when we came back from the church,” said one of her relatives. She was first taken to the district hospital and then to a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. The woman’s relative said that the rape was confirmed by the hospital. The woman succumbed to injuries on Wednesday and her body will be cremated at the Puthukkad Cathedral on Sunday.
Chavara police on Friday arrested a man in connection with the death of the octogenarian. The arrested has been identified as Shaji Gopakumar, 48, of Puthukkad in Chavara. In another case, a fiveyear- old girl was raped by her relative at Nedumparambu on Thursday night. Kundara police arrested Mohanan, 48, of Settlement Colony, Nedumparambu, in connection with the incident. According to Kundara police, Mohanan, a manual labourer who stayed near the girl’s house, raped her and tried to flee when her parents caught him red-handed. He was produced before the court and remanded. I n a n o t h e r c a s e , Pathanapuram police arrested four persons, including the step-father of a 16-year-old girl, for sexual assault.
The arrested have been identified as Mohanan, 50, of Mamoodu, Manesh, 25, and Binukkuttan, 28, of Kalanjoor and Janamma, 47, of Thenmala. According to Pathanapuram police, the girl was staying in a relief home in Pathanapuram where she was sexually abused by a worker of the institution. She later shifted to her home to stay with her step-father Mohanan, who molested her. She was also assaulted by Manesh and Binukkuttan with the help of the girl’s distant relative Janamma after she complained of the incident to the lady. The arrested would be produced before the court on Saturday. The girl has been shifted to Mahila Mandiram here. In yet another incident of rape, East police here on Friday arrested two youths for sexually harassing a 13-yearold girl. The arrested have been identified as Balu, 23, and Shibu, 26, both of Pattathanam. According to the police, the girl was having a love affair with Balu who allegedly molested her. Later, Shibu, a friend of Balu, also molested the girl . The girl is a Class VIII student of a school here.