KRISHNAGIRI: Five out of seven persons, accused of allegedly forcing a ten-year-old tribal girl to smoke beedi and drink liquor in a viral video in June, were arrested after more than a month, under Section 77 of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 ( penalty for giving intoxicating liquor or narcotic drugs or psychotropic substance to a child) on Thursday evening.
Police arrested Agalappa, Sivaraj, Kumar, Ramesh and Sangaiyya in connection with the case and is searching for Siva Rudrappa and Rudrappa.
A video of a ten-year-old tribal girl from Bettamugilalam panchayat in Denkanikottai taluk went viral on social media, where she was forced to smoke beedi and drink alcohol by a few people. One of the persons recorded the video and uploaded it on social media.
Following the incident, The New Indian Express alerted DCPO Sivagandhi, who sent her to team rescue the child on June 10, but the girl was not in the village, and had allegedly gone to attend her 16-year-old sister’s marriage, which was reportedly thwarted.
Similarly, on June 16, The New Indian Express carried an article, 'Liquor abuse : 10-yr-old yet to get help' and on the same day District Child Protection Unit staffs went to Bettamugilalam panchayat to rescue the child and she was taken to Child Welfare Committe (CWC) and within few hours, she was sent back with her parents. But neither the CWC nor the DCPO lodge any complaint against the youths.
Last month, CWC member Tamilselvi said that, they had told probation officer Mahendran to enquire about the issue and to submit a report based on which action would be taken. But when The New Indian Express enquired about the case from Mahendran, he said that he had not got a letter from CWC else he would have worked on the case and submitted a report.
On Wednesday, when this issue was informed to secretary of Social Welfare and Women Empowerment department, Shambhu Kallolikar, he assured that proper enquiry will be conducted on this issue.
Deputy Director of Social Defence G Kasthuri, Krishnagiri District Child Protection Officer Sivagandhi, protection officer ( non- institutional care) Subash visited the village on Thursday and rescued the child and DCPO lodged a complaint against the youths at Denkanikottai police station.
Sivagandhi told The New Indian Express, "The child's parents were not willing to lodge a complaint against the youths who were also relatives of the victim, that’s why we had to file the complaint."