MADURAI: At least eight people, including the mother and siblings of a 13-year-old, were arrested in Madurai for forcing the child into prostitution and sexually assaulting her. According to the police, aside from the mother and siblings, the child's aunt, male cousin, and three 'customers' were booked.
“The 13-year-old girl was in the care of her mother after the death of her father. Her mother and aunts were engaged in prostitution, due to which the girl was being raised by her grandma. In the second week of May, the girl’s mother took her away. When the grandmother met the girl in the second week of June, she found her unwell, and learned she had been sexually assaulted by her cousin and three others at a rented house in Kadachanendhal and Moondru Maavadi. She also came to know that the girl have been administered sleeping pills,” sources added.
Sources said Sekar and Buvanesh, two of the customers, had threatened the girl to prevent her from speaking about the incident. “As the girl had refused to be physically intimate with them, they had assaulted her. It has come to light that the girl’s mother had given her contraceptive tablets to avoid pregnancy. Buvanesh had threatened to murder the girl by means of an acid attack if the girl’s grandmother lodged a complaint. They had also taken explicit photos of the girl,” sources added.
Upon the girl’s grandmother’s complaint, the Tallakulam AWPS police arrested the girl’s mother and her two sisters, her aunt, her male cousin, and three customers Arun, Buvanesh, and Sekar.