KOCHI: Police on Thursday arrested a man under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) for sexually abusing a four-year-old girl, who died after her mother threw her into a river in Thiruvankulam, Puthencruz, early this week.
The man, who is a paternal relative of the child, admitted to the crime during detailed interrogation. He was booked with various charges including Pocso and child welfare, police said.
"As per the preliminary findings, the child was sexually harrassed within the house. The accused admitted that he had been sexually assaulting the child for around two years. He even admitted that he even raped the girl even the day before her death," said police source with the Ernakulam rural police.
During the interrogation, the accused admitted the crime. The post mortem report became the vital evidence in the ongoing probe, the police sources said.
The shocking twist into the death of the four-year-old girl came to light after the post-mortem report, on late Wednesday. The Chengamanad police at first registered the POCSO case into the matter, and later it was transferred to the Puthencruz police. The special investigation team led by the DySPs of Puthencruz and Aluva is currently probing into the case.