After child’s death, cops find clip of sexual assault

CHENNAI:  A day after an eight-year-old girl was bitten by a snake in Tiruvallur district, the police on Monday arrested a 75-year-old man for allegedly molesting her, and five others for circulating a video of the act on social media.

While the girl was allegedly molested three months ago, it came to light only after the girl died. The girl was a Class 4 student of a government school some 30 km from Chennai. Police said her parents had died a few years ago and she was residing with her uncle and his family.

Her uncle works at a brick kiln in the village. The police said, on Sunday night, the girl went out to attend nature’s call and was bitten by a snake. She was rushed to the Stanley Government Hospital, where she succumbed on Monday. Her last rites were performed on Monday evening.

Meanwhile, the police learnt that a video of the girl being molested by an old man was being circulated on WhatsApp group in the locality. “The video was recorded by a youth from another village when he had come to visit his friend. In the video, an elderly man can be seen molesting the girl in the bushes, where she had gone to attend nature’s call,” said a police officer.

Based on information, the police traced five men who allegedly shared the video on WhatsApp. The elderly man was identified as Balu (75) from a nearby village. The All Women police in Avadi Commissionerate registered a case under the POCSO Act and IT Act and nabbed the five men who shared the video.

The accused Chinnadurai (25), Baskar (20), Sathish (22), Ramesh (24) and Vijayakumar (25) were remanded in judicial custody on Tuesday. A senior police officer added, “The men had thought it would do them no harm since the girl was dead. They had shared it among friends along with lewd comments. The information reached the police after a few villagers learnt about the video being shared.” An investigation is on.