A 46-year-old man was arrested by the Meenakshipuram police in Palakkad for allegedly assaulting his minor daughter at their rented house in Meenakshipuram. The incident occurred around noon on Sunday and came to light after a neighbour recorded the assault on video and shared it on social media.

The accused, Vinayakumar, is a native of Kottarakkara in Kollam district. The video shows him repeatedly beating the girl, a class five student, with a thick stick as she screams for help, calls out to her mother and pleads with her father to stop. The child is also seen trying to dodge the blows before falling to the ground, while the assault continues. The incident took place in the backyard of the family's rented house.

Acting on information from the neighbour, police initially visited the house. However, both Vinayakumar's wife and the child declined to file a complaint.

As the video went viral online, Childline, functioning under the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), intervened and revisited the house along with the police. "The family eventually agreed to file a complaint after Childline officials counselled the girl," a police officer said.

Vinayakumar was subsequently taken into custody, and his arrest was recorded. "During questioning, the accused told us that he assaulted the child for failing to refill a traditional lamp (nilavilakku) with fresh oil," the official said. He has been booked under Sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing minor hurt), 118(1) (voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons or means) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and Section 75 (cruelty to a child) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

According to police, Vinayakumar was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident. The couple has one daughter and has been living in the rented house in Meenakshipuram for more than six years. Vinayakumar works at a nearby farmland. “The accused will be brought before a court in Chittoor today and remanded,” the officer added.