Aluva: Shocking details of the man arrested over the rape of an eight-year-old girl in Aluva the other day have emerged.
Accused Christil Raj, who is a native of Chenkal in Thiruvananthapuram, is a habitual offender and notorious for acts of perversion. He was arrested several times earlier for robbery and sexual assault. The Crime Records Bureau, which conducted a check using his thumb impression soon after his arrest, revealed that Raj is an accused in 14 cases.
He is known among fellow criminals as ‘kokku' (crane) because of his lean, tall frame and the habit of stealing mobile phones from homes by putting hands right through windows.
Odd habits
Residents of Chenkal claimed he is a drug addict who is in the habit of confining himself to the room at his home once he gets intoxicated. He has a habit of indulging in sexually pervasive acts once intoxicated and was nabbed for assaulting a cow in the neighbouring house once.
He knows repairs of electrical and electronic items. He has no friends at his native place and is nocturnal.
Police say Raj roams about in places where migrant workers live en masse and that he is in the habit of stealing articles from such places and selling them to the people there at whatever price he gets.
The investigation team probing the rape case suspects that Raj, who came to abduct the girl child from her house here, might have stolen the mobile phone from there. Police collected the IMEI number to trace the phone.
He is also suspected stealing of mobile phones from houses on New Lane in the Thottakkattukara locality of Aluva last week.
Jailed earlier for rape
Raj, who used to indulge in thefts from childhood itself, is even accused of sexually assaulting a 60-year-old mentally challenged woman in his neighbourhood. A case in this regard was registered at the Parassala police station, and Christil later underwent imprisonment.
Besides, he has cases against his name at Balaramapuram and Neyyattinkara police stations. Though he was arrested and produced before Neyyattinkara court for theft, he escaped by breaking the handcuffs but was nabbed soon.
He was also an accused in a theft case in Perumbavoor last year.
Habitual thief, says mother
Raj’s mother lamented that he was a habitual thief from the age of 18. He will go out of the house at intervals during the night and will return in the morning. He wouldn’t answer even if questioned. He would just enter his room, lock it from inside, and sleep, she said, as tears welled up in her eyes.
Raj was arrested from his hideout under the Marthanda Varma Bridge at Aluva on Thursday hours after he abducted the girl and raped her. The girl's mother raised an alarm at around 2 am when she noticed that her daughter was missing. A search was launched immediately and residents found the girl and alerted the police.
