A 26-year-old folk artist, Paramasivam, was arrested by the police on Wednesday for allegedly raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl from Ambur.
The Ambur Police’s investigation into the case of a missing girl turned into a murder probe after recovery of the highly decomposed body of the girl from Kambukudi in Jawadhu Hills.
“Preliminary inquiries revealed that the girl frequently contacted a mobile number. On tracking the number down, we zeroed in on Paramasivam,” said A Kayalvizhi, Vellore Superintendent of police. “We eventually found out that the girl was murdered by Paramasivan on June 6 afternoon.”
According to police, Paramasivan, a father of two, met the girl at A Kapsa in Ambur when he visited the place as part of a folk artists’ troupe to perform at the local temple festival on April 14.
“It was love at first sight for the girl after she met Paramasivam at the festival. He told her that he was a bachelor,” said E Vijaya Kumar, Ambur Deputy Superintendent of Police.
“She got his mobile number and frequently spoke to him from her father’s mobile.”
Paramasivan, a native of the Nadukuppam tribal village in Jawadhu Hills, eloped with the girl to Yelagiri on June 5. She took her mother’s ATM card along with her.
“During their stay in Yelagiri, Paramasivan tried to force himself on the girl to which she resisted asking him to get married to her first,” said the Ambur DSP, quoting Paramasivan’s admission. “He took her to an isolated place in Kambukudi, between Kavalur and Pudurnadu, and tried to rape her.” After the girl resisted, Paramasivan allegedly strangled her to death using her dupatta. He abandoned her body on the spot after taking all her belongings, including two sets of ear studs, silk sarees, the ATM card and her bag.
“He pledged the belongings and gave the cash to his father for the construction of their house. He also withdrew `8,000 using the ATM when they were in Yelagiri,” police said.
“The material evidences, such as the purse of the girl and her clothes, which were found from his under-construction house, confirmed his statement,” added Kumar.
Police have registered a case of murder. They produced Paramasivan before a court, which remanded him in the Vellore prison.