Malappuram/Thiruvananthapuram: The police have recorded the arrest of a woman who allowed the sexual abuse of her young daughter by a man at a cinema theatre at Edappal in Malappuram district recently.

A case was registered against the woman on Sunday under the stringent POCSO Act or the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The woman was taken into custody on Saturday along with one Moideenkutty, a resident of Thrithala in Palakkad district, who abused the girl.

Moideenkutty, who was arrested on Saturday, will be produced before a court at Ponnani on Sunday.

Earlier, the Kerala Women's Commission called for a police case against the woman.

M C Josephine, the chief of the Commission, said the abuse happened with the connivance of the girl's mother. She lauded the exemplary conduct of the owner of the theatre for coming forward to expose the matter.

The girl has been admitted to a childcare home.

SI faces POCSO Act

Malappuram district police chief Debesh Kumar Behera, IPS, has suspended Changaramkulam SI K G Baby for not taking action in the matter even a fortnight after it came to light.

Baby was also facing strict action in connection with the case. State police chief Loknath Behera has directed the officers concerned to charge Baby under relevant sections of the POCSO Act.

The shocking incident, which was reported from a cinema theatre at Edappal, happened on April 18. The woman and her daughter reached the theatre first and the middle-aged man soon joined them. He had reportedly arrived there in a luxury car.

The sexual abuse came to light only when the theatre authorities found the incident on their CCTV records. On April 25, the owners of the theatre informed the Childline authorities and handed over to them the visual records. The latter contacted the police the very next day and asked for registering a case. The subsequent police inaction created a furore and finally resulted in the filing of a case and the arrest of Moideenkutty on Saturday.

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