TN teen tortured by neighbours: Then, her statement revealed another horrific crime

The 14-year-old girl was stripped and tied to a tree and repeatedly assaulted, after having been accused of stealing by neighbours.

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A case of rape and physical torture of a 14-year-old has emerged from Thiruvaiyaru in Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu. Five people including a 16-year-old boy, who has been accused of raping the minor, have been arrested since the case came to light.

According to the police, the survivor – a 14-year-old girl – was residing with her father after her mother quarrelled with him and was no longer staying with them for a few days. “It started with one incident on October 15, one man in the neighbourhood, Kannan (29), had molested the girl and behaved in a very crude manner,” said Thiruvaiyur All Womens’ Police Station (AWPS) Inspector, K Suguna, to TNM.

“A few days after this, the girl had approached her neighbour Mahendran (35) asking if she could borrow his cellphone to call her mother and speak to her,” said the inspector.

Mahendran had vehemently refused at the time, but came to the girl’s house in the middle of the night and created a ruckus claiming that his phone was missing and insisted that she must have stolen it. He then allegedly beat the girl’s father, who ran away to get help.

“He said that he didn’t think that the neighbours would go so far as to attack her and left the young girl while he went to get some help,” the inspector added.

The next day, Mahendra returned with his relative Sivakumar (39), and the two took the girl and allegedly tied her to a tree where they then allegedly hit her with a cattle prod and even brandished her with a hot iron.

At this time, another neighbour, 28-year-old Vidya claimed that the girl had stolen Rs 10,000 and allegedly hit the girl with slippers. The young girl lost consciousness at this time and the three ran away.

In some time, the girl regained consciousness and managed to free herself. She ran to a nearby grove of trees to hide. She was able to borrow someone’s phone and managed to call her father, who then came and took her to the hospital, said inspector Suguna.

The police were called in to investigate at this time. On further enquiry, they came to know that she was allegedly raped 6 months ago by a 16-year-old boy whom she knew. Following the investigation, police have arrested 29-year-old Kannan, alias Gopalakrishnan for allegedly molesting her and the 16-year-old boy for alleged rape. A POCSO case has been registered against the two.

Inspector Suguna informed TNM that Kannan has been produced in front of a Mahila court and that the teenage boy has been sent to juvenile home. The others accused, Mahendran, Sivakumar, and Vidya, have been arrested. A case has been filed under IPC sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (non-bailable offence), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 355 (Assault with intent to dishonour a person), and 506-2 (An act of criminal intimidation to cause death or grievous hurt).