72-yr-old man arrested for molesting 3 minor girls

Coimbatore: A 72-year-old farmer was arrested on Monday for molesting three minor girls at his farmhouse at Sundapalayam, on the outskirts of the city.
Police identified him as P Perumalsamy of Sundapalayam. “Though the man had threatened the girls with dire consequences, they revealed the incident to J Sherin Reshma, a staff of the One Stop Crisis Centre (OSCC), who conducted an awareness programme on sexual harassment in their school a few days ago. The girls, aged between nine to 11 years, told her that Perumalsamy lured them into his house when they went to graze goats near a brickkiln chamber near his land on August 15 around 3pm and molested them,” a police officer said.
Reshma lodged a complaint with the all women police in Perur, who held inquiry with the children and registered a case against Perumalsamy under sections 7 and 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012 and section 506 (i) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. He was lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison.
People can contact the centre, functioning at Flower Market in the city, by dialling toll free number 181.
As many as 34 Pocso cases have been reported from rural Coimbatore since January, a police officer said. “Last year, 34 such cases were reported. Twenty-four cases were reported from the city last year. One case was acquitted by the court and the remaining 23 are under trial. As many as 16 cases were reported from the city this year till July,” he added.