45-yr-old man arrested for kidnapping and marrying 15-yr-old girl

Coimbatore: A 45-year-old daily wage labourer was arrested on Friday for kidnapping a 15-year-old girl and marrying her.
The Perur all-woman police identified the accused as V Palanisamy, a resident of Valaiyapalayam near Karumathampatti. He was separated from his wife, with whom he has a 16-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter.
An investigation officer said the victim, a Class IX student, was daughter of Palanisamy’s friend, who was also his co-worker. “Palanisamy used to visit the girl’s house often. When her parents were away at work, he visited her at her house on July 13 and kidnapped her. When her parents failed to trace her after returning home from work, they lodged a complaint with the Karumathampatti police, who registered a missing person case.”
Preliminary inquiry revealed that Palanisamy had kidnapped the minor girl and married her. Police secured Palanisamy on Thursday and rescued the minor girl. “He had raped the girl on several occasions in the past few days. We have booked him under Sections 5(l) and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, Section 366 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 9 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act,” the officer said.
Palanisamy was produced before the special court for Pocso cases and lodged in Udumalpet sub-jail under judicial custody.