KOCHI: The case of suicide of a 15-year-old girl, whose body was fished out of the Periyar last week, has got a twist after the forensic team which conducted the autopsy on the girl reported that she was raped.
Though the preliminary police investigation suggested that the girl had died by suicide following a breakup in a love affair, the autopsy report that came out on Monday revealed that she was raped and that this might have forced her to take the extreme step.
“There were some bruise marks on her body. These suggested that the girl was sexually assaulted or raped. The autopsy report also confirmed that she had undergone sexual intercourse. Since she was a minor, it was a clear case of rape,” said a police officer requesting anonymity.
On December 23, the police found the body of the girl under the Thadikkadavu bridge near UC College, Aluva. Though the girl went missing after school hours, the CCTV footage helped the police locate her.
Meanwhile, the police who started the investigation as a case of suicide under CrPC later invoked the charges of rape under IPC and provisions of the Pocso Act following the autopsy report.
“The investigation is on. We have already traced some persons who had been in touch with the girl. Within a few days, we will be able to nab the culprit, “said the officer who is leading the investigation.
The police found that she had been chatting with some persons through social media accounts.
“Now, almost all children have social media accounts. As per the information, she had some online friends. But we need to find the actual culprit. We are verifying the details of the persons who contacted her during these days. We are also checking the location details of her phone,” said the officer.
When TNIE contacted the school authorities, they also confirmed that the girl seemed to have been facing some mental stress for the last two weeks. “Unlike other girls, she was always calm and quiet. Since she joined the school last year, she had a friend circle of only four-five students. But in the last two weeks, she had kept a distance from them too. However, she had been performing well in her studies,” said a teacher.