Girl found injured in TN jasmine farm dies, boy detained

TRICHY: A nine-year-old girl, who was found lying unconscious in a jasmine farm in Trichy district of Tamil Nadu with head injuries, died in Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH) here on Sunday night. Police detained a 14-year-old boy, who was the girl’s neighbour, on suspicion that he had sexually harassed and murdered her.
Police said the girl was found in a jasmine farm in Krishnasamudram near Manapparai on Sunday afternoon. She was rushed to Government Headquarters Hospital in Manapparai from where she was shifted to MGMGH in Trichy for critical care treatment. She failed to respond to treatment and died on Sunday night. She was a Class III student studying in a government school.
Police sources the boy forced the girl to meet him in the jasmine farm near their house on Sunday afternoon. When the girl went there, he attempted to sexually harass her, but she confronted him. In a fit of rage, the boy attacked the girl with a stone.
The Manapparai all-woman police, who registered a case, detained the boy as he was the first one to inform the neighbourhood about the girl lying unconscious in the farm. Initially, the police had no clue about the accused. However, they conducted inquiries with the boy. Officials said the boy had given contradictory statements and so they detained him. Further investigations were on.