Kasaragod: The police on Friday arrested the suspect who abducted and sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl at Kanhangad here over a week ago. A 35-year-old Coorg native, the suspect was taken into custody from Andhra Pradesh.
As per reports, a phone call the suspect made home proved crucial in tracing him. As the suspect wasn't using his phone much, the police had a difficult time finding his whereabouts. However, the moment they gathered information that he was in Andhra Pradesh, a team set off for the state and nabbed him. He is expected to be brought back to Kanhangad by 8 pm.
The police obtained crucial information about the suspect five days after the crime. The suspect has been residing in the neighbourhood for many years. But he left his house suddenly on May 15. Police turned suspicious over his sudden disappearance. Further investigation reportedly confirmed his role in the crime. Police also obtained CCTV visuals revealing the face of the suspect.
According to police, the suspect married from Kanhangad and moved here 14 years ago. They said he was familiar with the survivor's house. "He is an suspect in another POCSO case registered in Melparambu police station two years ago. He molested a 14-year-old girl who is his relative. In that case, he took the girl to the Adoor forest area on his scooter and raped her. He was in prison on remand for three months in the case. There are also cases of chain snatching against him in the Sullia and Coorg stations," said police.
The case
The 10-year-old girl sleeping in her house was kidnapped and sexually assaulted on May 15. She was found abandoned in a nearby paddy field in the early hours of Wednesday. The girl was allegedly abducted from a hamlet which falls under the Hosdurg police station limit here. According to the child's family members, she was kidnapped from the room of her grandfather after he went out of the house to milk his cows around 3 am. She was found missing from the bed when he returned after some time. They said the grandfather used to go out after closing the door but never locked it. The other family members including the victim's father, mother and sister were sleeping in another room in the same house, they said.
Abandoned in a paddy field, the hapless girl knocked on the door of a house nearby and called her father from a phone of the residents there. Quoting the girl, her family said that an unidentified man had taken her outside the house, threatening to kill her if she raised an alarm. "Her earrings were missing... She said the perpetrator spoke Malayalam," a family member told the media. Based on their complaint, police registered a case and launched a search to trace the suspect.
