Kerala: 15-year old nabbed for attempted rape of 21-year-old student at Kondotty

Malappuram (Kerala), October 26

It was a 15-year old boy who a day before made the brutal attempt to rape a 21-year old student at Kondotty here, police said on Tuesday after nabbing the accused.

Malappuram SP Sujith Das, speaking to the media after apprehending the Class 10 student, said that the boy has no criminal antecedents and according to the victim had never troubled her before.

The boy fled the scene of the crime after the victim escaped his clutches and, upon reaching home, explained away his dirty clothes and scratches on his arms and lips as having falling while being chased by a dog, the officer said.

However, when the police reached his home and questioned him, he confessed that he received the injuries while assaulting the 21-year old woman, the officer said.

According to the police, he had followed the victim for some distance before attacking her close to a banana plantation.

The accused had hit her on the head with a stone, tied her arms and pressed down on her neck very hard to subdue her, the police said and added that the victim who fought back was lucky to escape with her life.

The officer also said that they were looking into the accused’s online activity to ascertain what prompted him to commit the crime as he has no criminal antecedents and was a district level judo champion.

A formal arrest would be made soon after finding out some more details, the officer told the media.

After the rape attempt on Monday, police had intensified its search for the accused.

A Kondotty police official, earlier in the day, had said that the accused had caught her on her way to college at Kottookara near Kondotty and dragged her to a nearby field to rape the victim.

The victim had managed to escape to the safety of a nearby house.

The woman in whose house the victim took refuge told reporters that the girl’s hands were tied and she had injuries on her face.

The victim also appeared scared and was half nude and was rushed to the Kozhikode medical college, the woman said.

The victim was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday, police said and added that an FIR has been lodged against the accused for attempted murder and attempted rape.

The victim has said she can identify the accused whom she described as a fair and fat man with no beard or moustache, police said and added that he had also left his slippers at the spot while trying to flee the scene after she escaped. — PTI