THOOTHUKUDI: In a suspected case of sexual assault and murder, a 17-year-old girl who went missing on Tuesday evening was found strangled to death with scratch marks on her neck at a secluded spot in a village near Kulathur on Wednesday evening.
Her family members and villagers accused police of not taking timely action on their complaint and staged a protest on the Kurukkusalai-Kulathur road demanding action against police personnel and immediate arrest of the culprits. The girl was a class 12 students and her parents are farmers.
According to sources, around 6.30 pm on Tuesday, she left the house to attend nature’s call and did not return home.
After searching for her, the parents went to the Kulathur police station to lodge a complaint, but were allegedly told to go to Vilathikulam all women police station because the newly appointed inspector would take charge only on Wednesday.
At the Vilathikulam all women police station, the AWPS inspector allegedly insulted them and did not take their complaint seriously. The family approached Vilathikulam MLA GV Markandeyan,and he raised the issue with the Superintendent of Police.
Based on the SP’s instructions, a case was registered on Wednesday morning and AWPS and Kulathur Police began searching for her.
Around 3 pm, police found the girl dead amidst thorny bushes nearly 200 metres from her house.
Police personnel privy to the investigation said the girl had been strangled to death and there were scratches on her neck, but her clothes were intact. Investigation is on to ascertain whether it was a sexual assault, an officer said.
The body was shifted to Thoothukudi medical college hospital for post mortem, which would be conducted on Thursday.
Superintendent of Police SP C Madhan inspected the crime scene. Fingerprint experts and sniffer dog were deployed to collect evidence.
MLA GV Markandeyan visited the families and consoled them. In a X post, former TN BJP president K Annamalai condemned the incident.
Thoothukudi MP and DMK deputy general secretary Kanimozhi Karunanidhi in her X post stated that the brutal murder of a minor girl has been shocking. “Police are expeditiously searching for the culprits. The anti-social elements involved in the heinous crime will be dealt with strictly, and we will stand with the bereaved family to get justice.”