NAGAPATTINAM: Parents of a 12-year-old SC girl from Vedaranyam have alleged that their neighbour and Highways Department official had molested their daughter and threatened them with dire consequences.
The girl's parents, who are daily wage farm labourers, complained to Nagapattinam Collector on Monday. They alleged that police had not arrested the accused, P Sivajiraja (50), and allowed him to harass and threaten them.
The couple said that their daughters, aged 12 and 9, were studying in a village near Vedaranyam. On February 9, Sivajiraja allegedly dragged their elder daughter behind a temple while she was going to school, molested her and captured it on his mobile phone. Sivajiraja fled the scene after threatening the girl into silence. On February 12, Sivajiraja allegedly barged into the girl's house, verbally abused the mother and threatened them that he would morph and publish the victim's pictures on social media. The girl then told her mother about the incident, and she complained to the police on February 13.
A complaint was registered at Vedaranyam All Women's Police Station and a case was booked on February 25 under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and IPC Sections 294b and 506-2. However, the police did not arrest Sivajiraja, and the girl's parents gave a statement before a magistrate on March 7.
"We are not sending our daughters to school regularly as they have to pass through Sivajiraja's house. He and his relatives have constantly been threatening us, saying that we should withdraw the complaint. He claims that he knows people in high positions and would get rid of us," the girl's mother told TNIE.
An official from the station told TNIE, "The accused is absconding and no longer reports to duty in Nagapattinam. He was pleading innocence before going off our watch. The Collector has recommended a thorough investigation and we are on to it."