COIMBATORE: A pet dog belonging to a family identified a rapist and helped the family members hand over the accused to the police on Saturday.
The accused has been identified as S Dhilipkumar, 29, from Thillai Nagar at Selvapuram. He is a goldsmith and is unmarried.
On Friday night, Dhilipkumar visited a house in Selvapuram, where a mentally challenged woman resided.
The woman, 30, stayed separately in a shed and her family stayed inside the house. Electricity connection to the shed was provided by the woman's family.
Dhilipkumar had parked his vehicle 200 meters away from the house and visited the woman.
On noticing the man, the pet dog of the house bit the man's pant while he tried to escape and ensured he did not move from the spot. Meanwhile, the family members became suspicious as the lights were switched off in the shed, where the woman lived. On visiting the shed they found Dhilipkumar inside.
The family members immediately alerted the neighbours, and handed him over to the police.
Police seized a mobile phone from him and found obscene videos that were recorded by the goldsmith with women.
Selvapuram (law&order) police registered a case against the goldsmith under sections 376 (2) (e) (commits rape on a woman knowing her to be pregnant) and 506 (i) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. The police arrested Dhilipkumar on Saturday and remanded him to judicial custody.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that the goldsmith already visited the woman's shed twice and raped her. He had recorded the act by using his mobile phone.
Further investigation is on.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)