COIMBATORE: A head constable attached to the Kovilpalayam police station in Coimbatore district was arrested on Monday in a Pocso case for assaulting and sexually harassing a 14-year-old schoolgirl and attempting to extort Rs 1 lakh from her.
The accused had spotted the girl speaking to a fellow student and threatened to reveal her alleged ‘relationship’ to her parents. The policeman was arrested by the Karumathampatti all-women police after the girl’s father filed a complaint with the purported audio recording of the accused blackmailing his daughter.
The accused, Ravikumar (39) of Sulur, lives with his wife and 10-year-old daughter, police said. According to sources, Ravikumar was transferred to the Kovilpalayam station from Coimbatore city a year ago.
On Saturday evening, the accused spotted the Class 8 schoolgirl speaking to a fellow student in the locality. He then allegedly beat them up and chased the boy away, threatening to inform their parents of their ‘relationship’ if they meet again.
Later that evening, Ravikumar allegedly went to the girl’s house demanding Rs 1 lakh for not disclosing the relationship, but the girl sent him away saying that her parents were present at the time and the issue cannot be discussed, sources added.
Subsequently, on Sunday evening, when Ravikumar was heading to the station at 5 pm, he once again spotted the two speaking, sources said.
Girl managed to record cop blackmailing
Angered by this, the accused took pictures of the two and blackmailed them. He also allegedly sexually harassed the girl while trying to snatch her phone away. During the fracas, the girl managed to record the policeman blackmailing them and shared it with her father, police said.
Based on the father’s complaint, the audio recording and the minor girl’s statement, the Karumathampatti all-women police booked Ravikumar under various sections of the Pocso Act, Juvenile Justice Act, and BNS. He was arrested and remanded to prison on Monday night.