Police have arrested a 35-year-old daily wage worker, husband of two wives, under the provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for ‘kidnapping’ and marrying a 16-year-old girl, a Class X drop-out.
Police said B. Pandi of Karichangundu near Thirupullani had married a woman a few years ago and later married her younger sister and lived with the two wives and two children.
On August 3, he went missing with the first wife’s daughter and enquiries revealed that he had eloped with a 16-year-old girl who came to visit her relative in the village. The all-woman police, after registering child and girl missing cases, launched a hunt for the accused.
Meanwhile, when he called his first wife and told her that the child was safe with him, police tracked the call and traced him at Tiruchi bus stand and arrested him.
He told the police that he had married the girl at Palani temple and was living with her in Thanjavur. He had visited Tiruchi seeking job when police arrested him.
The police rescued the child and the girl from the accused. They handed over the child to her mother and the girl to the Child Welfare Committee.
The accused was produced before a court and remanded in judicial custody on Monday, police said.