Man sexually assaults 12-yr-old daughter of live-in partner, held

Thiruvananthapuram: A 38-year-old man, who tried to rape the 12-year-old daughter of his live-in partner, has been arrested by Kilimanoor police. The accused is a mason and hails from Ernakulam. His arrest was recorded on Sunday.
According to the police, the incident related to the case took place on Friday when the girl’s mother and her brother had gone out to meet relatives. The girl managed to resist the attack and ran out of the house. She returned home only after her mother and brother came back. Later in the night, she narrated her ordeal to her mother.
“The mother of the girl did a good thing by not confronting him right away. She kept quiet and approached the police without his knowledge,” said Kilimanoor station house officer inspector K B Manoj, adding that this helped the police apprehend the accused without much trouble. If he had learned about the complaint against him, he would have tried to flee, the inspector said.
The inspector also said that according to the girl, the accused was under the influence of alcohol at the time of committing the crime.
The accused was in a live-in relationship with the girl’s mother for the past five years after she got separated from her husband.
The police have charged him with sections 11 and 12 of Pocso Act pertaining to sexual harassment, which if proven guilty could get him a sentence of up to three years. He was produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.
This is the second arrest under Pocso Act being recorded at Kilimanoor police station in past three days. On Friday, the police had arrested a 20-year-old youth, who allegedly lured a minor girl, took her to various places and sexually exploited her. Though case in this regard was registered three months ago, the accused was on the run. He was caught on Friday.