Coimbatore: A 32-year-old man was arrested for brutal rape and murder of a six-year-old child in Kasthoorinayakan Pudhur village near here. He confessed to police that he kidnapped the child and killed her after sexually assault.
On Monday evening (25 March), parents of a six-year-old girl found her missing. They lodged a complaint with the local police. On Tuesday morning, the body of the missing child was found abandoned in the narrow passage next to her house. Her limbs were tied and she bore several injuries on her forehead and jaw. The postmortem report at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) confirmed that she had been raped.
Special teams of police were formed to nab the culprit. Case was registered under sections 302 (Punishment for murder), 376(A) (Person committing an offence of rape and inflicting injury which causes death or causes the woman to be in a persistent vegetative state) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the sections of 5(l) (Commits penetrative sexual assault on the child more than once or repeatedly), 5(m) (commits penetrative sexual assault on a child below twelve years) of POCSO Act. The case was transferred to All Women Police of Thudiyalur for further investigation.
This morning, police arrested one Santosh Kumar (32). They took him to an undisclosed place and conducted enquiries. He confessed to police that he committed the heinous act.
Santosh had returned home in an inebriated condition last Monday. He saw the six-year-old child playing with her friends. He kidnapped her and took her to a lonely place.
Santosh said, “After I raped her, she started crying. When her parents came in search of her, I took her inside my house and strangled her to death. My grandmother died the same night. I hid the child’s body inside my house and started to prepare for my grandmother’s funeral. Early next morning, I took her body to a ground nearby and left it there,” he said.
Police on suspicion watched Santosh’s movements and picked him up for an enquiry. He was already married and got separated from his wife a few years ago.
A native of Thondamuthur village, he was working as an interior decorator’s assistant. He was living in Kasthoorinayakan Pudhur village since 2018. He confessed that he had earlier molested a couple of children in the locality. He also threatened them of dire consequences if they inform anyone about his act.