3 boys, 65-year-old man held for raping 9-year-old girl

Coimbatore: The city police on Friday arrested three minor boys and a 65-year-old man for raping a nine-year-old girl for more than one year at Pillaiyarpuram near Podanur.
The girl’s teachers suspected something was amiss as she used to fight with boys in her class and avoided them, police sources said. “The teachers informed NGO Childline over phone and Angeline, a counsellor, visited the school a few days ago. The girl told Angeline that she used to stay alone in her house as both of her parents were construction workers. Her relative Selvaraj, who was staying in a nearby house, used to give her tea and snacks. Selvaraj, who was working as a wall painter, was a widower and he sexually assaulted her several times at his house. A 13-year-old boy, who was a neighbour, also sexually assaulted her at his house. She was also raped by a 14-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy, who was working in a lathe workshop. The perpetrators used to offer the girl sweets and threatened her not to reveal the incident,” a police officer said.

Childline members rescued the girl and produced her before the child welfare committee (CWC), which sent her to a children’s home.

Angeline lodged a complaint with the all women police at Ramanathapuram. Police registered a case against the four people under sections V (l) (m) (n), read with VI of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The minor boys were produced before the juvenile justice board and were later lodged in the city’s juvenile home.

Selvaraj was lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison.