COIMBATORE: Two days after the body of a two-year-old girl was found inside a disused well, the city police arrested the child’s uncle on Wednesday. A senior police official said that they zeroed-in on the suspect based on his confession as they had no direct or circumstantial evidence to link him with the murder.
Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner of Police M Somasundaram said, “The case has been altered from section of 174 of the CrPC (suspicious death) to section 302 (murder). An additional charge under sections 9 and 10 of the POCSO Act, 2012, was added.”
The incident took place on Sunday when the parents of the child decided to spend the night at her grandfather’s place at Palaniyappan Thottam near Vilankurichi in the city. After tucking in the child, the mother checked on her around 2 am and found her missing. She raised an alarm and a search was launched.
However, according to the police, between the time the child was found missing and a search was launched, the girl’s uncle had abducted her. Once outside in the bushes, he tried to sexually abuse the child. This was when the neighbours heard the cries of the child resisting the attempts. No sooner had the girl started crying than the man tried to muffle her voice using a piece of cloth. When the body of the child went still, he threw her into the well assuming she had died.
Then he returned to the house, where the commotion had begun. He actively participated in the search and later led the party to the well, where the body was found.
He then accompanied the family to a private hospital. He remained with the family till the postmortem examination was conducted and even fielded questions from media at the hospital, even suggesting insider hand in the murder.