Changaramkulam police station house officer (SHO) Manesh K P said the delay in identifying the culprit was not deliberate. “The Childline activists did not inform us about the place of occurrence,” the SHO said. (Representational Image)
The Kerala police on Saturday arrested a 60-year-old man on charges of molesting a minor girl at a movie theatre at Edappal in Malappuram. Police said, K V Moitheenkutty, a native of Thrithala in Palakkad, had assaulted the girl in the presence of her mother on April 18. A CCTV footage at the theatre showed Moitheenkutty sitting in the middle of the mother and the daughter. While the film was being screened, he was seen repeatedly harassing the girl even as the mother sat beside him, police said.
The theatre management had passed on the CCTV footage to Childline, which in turn handed it over to police. As police delayed action, the footage was released to a TV channel on Saturday, which forced police to act swiftly.
Changaramkulam police station house officer (SHO) Manesh K P said the delay in identifying the culprit was not deliberate. “The Childline activists did not inform us about the place of occurrence,” the SHO said.
He said police haven’t made the mother a co-accused in the case as video did not indicate her connivance in the case. “The accused is a trader and the mother-daughter duo was staying at a property owned by him,’’ said the SHO.