COIMBATORE: Five days after the body of a seven-year-old child who had gone missing was discovered abandoned next to her house at Kasturinaickenpudur, Coimbatore rural police arrested a 34-year-old man for his alleged involvement in her rape and murder, on Sunday. The police claimed that the T-shirt that had been used to wrap the child’s body belonged to him.
The man, who was in town to visit his ailing grandmother, had reportedly brought the child to the house to administer first aid but attempted to sexually abuse her. It was when she started to scream that he allegedly tried to hold her down and eventually strangled her to death. As his grandmother too had died on the same day (March 25), he had managed to keep people’s attention off him, the police claimed.
The suspect is a resident of West Chittirai Chavadi near Uliyampalayam on the outskirts of the district. He has been living alone since his divorce a few years ago. He has reportedly been visiting his ailing grandmother, who lived near the girl’s family, often over the past two months. It was during this period that became acquainted with the girl and her family. On Monday evening, around 6.30 pm, the girl playing outside her house allegedly fell and hurt herself. The man offered to administer first-aid and took the child into his grandmother’s house.
It was there that he allegedly tried to rape her. When the girl screamed, he managed to subdue her and took her to an inner room to avoid detection. However, he strangled her when she tried to escape, said police and pegged the time of murder around 7.30 pm. It was around the same time that he announced the death of his grandmother. With the villagers gathered at his house in mourning, the people looking for the missing child did not consider to check there, the police surmised.
He reportedly kept the body hidden in the house till the morning of March 26, when he abandoned it in the narrow passage near the girl’s house, the police said. It was the T-shirt that was used to wrap the body that led the police to him. They claimed that he had recently purchased it. All five persons that the police had inquired till then were found to have no connection with the garment. Police officials claimed that he had confessed to the crime. Besides, cyber crime police have revealed that his phone had been active in the location at the time, when the incident is believed to have occurred. After completion of court proceedings, he was lodged in Coimbatore Central Prison.
Given that the man’s grandmother died around the same time, police have decided to investigate if he had murdered her to divert attention away from the missing child. They are also checking if anyone else had been involved in the crime, said an official attached with the special team.
It may be recalled that 10 special teams were formed to look into the case; later, this was increased to 14. Thought the victim’s parents provided a list of suspects, the police inquired with seven persons, including the child’s grandfather.
They also questioned over a hundred people to check if they could identify the T-shirt.
Meanwhile, the father of the suspect claimed that his son had been trapped in the case. “At the time of the incident (according to the police), he was with us for grandmother’s condolence. However, the police have been trying to trap him without any solid proof of his involvement,” he claimed.
Parents suspect involvement of others
Coimbatore: The parents of the child urged the police to leave no stone unturned as they suspect involvement of more people. The medical report had indicated that she might have been sexually abused by more than one person, they claimed. “Despite the evidence, the police have only arrested one person. The inquiry must be extended to nab all those involved,” said the victim’s mother.
The girl’s father said that the man arrested had probably murdered his grandmother to divert attention and asked the police to investigate this angle too. “We did not suspect him because he was only visiting his grandmother. However, after hearing of his involvement, we suspect he attacked his grandmother to divert attention,” the father said.