In yet another case of incest in the city, a 59-year-old man from Mattancherry was arrested on Saturday for allegedly raping his niece, a student of class IX. The issue came out during the girl’s counselling session at her school.
According to the police, she was being raped for the past four years, from the time when the girl was 10. “The issue surfaced during a counselling session undertaken by a group of social workers at the school. When asked about whether she had faced any such molestation, the girl reported what had happened to her,” said Sub-Inspector Sudhi Lal, of Mattancherry police station.
According to the police, the girl had lost her father very early, and her mother was working. The accused is Joseph, a carpenter. He is the husband of her mother’s sister. Both the families had been staying near each other. Since the mother was working, the girl was often left alone at home. Thus Joseph was able to commit the act without being found out all these years. Joseph had allegedly threatened the girl that he will distribute her nude pictures.
A case was registered by the counsellors with the Fort Kochi police station on Friday, and later re-registered at the Mattanchery police station.