74-year-old arrested, two teenage boys booked for raping 7-year-old in TN's Dharmapuri
DHARMAPURI: A 74-year-old man was arrested by Dharmapuri All Women Police on Wednesday for sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl. Two minor boys were also booked for a role in the crime.
The incident came to light when a 34-year-old woman brought her seven-year-old daughter to the Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital after she complained of pain in her stomach and discomfort in the pelvis region. Upon examining the girl, doctors informed the mother that she had been subjected to repeated sexual assault. Also, doctors found that the girl was traumatised and counselled her. They advised the girl's mother to approach Dharmapuri AWPS. The woman lodged a complaint and Inspector Gomathi conducted an inquiry with the girl at the hospital.
The seven-year-old stated that she was raped by her neighbour and her relative on multiple occasions over the last three months. Inspector Gomathi said the girl's parents were casual labourers and left the child alone at home. The girl used to attend online classes or play with children in the locality. Noticing this, the 74-year-old man made a 10-year-old boy in the neighbourhood to lure the girl into his house with sweets and raped her. Gomathi added that the man offered money to the 10-year-old to alert him if someone came to the house whenever he raped her.
A 13-year-old relative of the girl came to know about her trauma and exploited her. Instead of reporting the incident to her parents, the boy showed her pornographic content and recorded her videos before sexually assaulting her and threatened her, Gomathi added.
Based on a complaint, the man was arrested and remanded. The boys were allowed to stay in their homes and would be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board on Thursday. All the three were booked under IPC 363 for kidnapping, Section 5(i), 6,7,8, 16 and 17 of the POCSO Act.