THOOTHUKUDI: Two persons have been booked under The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and The SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for sexually assaulting and murdering an eight-year-old girl in Kalvilai near Sathankulam.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has taken suo motu cognisance of the case.
Earlier, it was suspected that the girl was strangled to death by one of the suspects, who is her neighbour, after she wanted to watch TV when he was quarrelling with his father. However, the girl's mother, in her complaint, said she saw bite marks on her daughter's face.
The child, who belonged to a Scheduled Caste, had gone to the house of V Mutheeswaran (18) on July 15 to watch TV. A few hours later, she was found dead on the bank of a stream located one-and-a-half kilometre away. Police alleged Mutheeswaran strangled the child to death, dumped her body in a plastic drum and disposed of the body with the help of his friend Nantheeswaran's (18).
Sathankulam police booked the duo under Sections 302 (punishment for murder) and 201 (punishment for causing disappearance of evidence) of IPC, Sections 5 (m) r/w section 6 of POCSO Act, and Sections 3(I) (W) (l) 3 (2) (v) of SC/ST Act. NCPCR Member Dr R G Anand spoke to Thoothukudi Superintendent of Police S Jeyakumar about the case. "A number of changes can be expected with regards to the protection of children soon," a press note from Anand's office read.