Vignesh A By

Express News Service

TIRUPUR: Accepting what seemed like an innocuous Facebook friend request ended up in a nightmare for a a 13-year-old girl from Tirupur, as the friendly stranger turned out to be a sexual predator, who ensnared the young teen and raped her. Lured by the 21-year-old youth's sweet-talk, the teenager ran away with him to Chennai and then to Puducherry, where she was sexually abused for two days.

The girl's harrowing tale came to light on April 29 when she reached Tirupur two days after she went missing and narrated her ordeal to her parents. On April 27, the girl's parents lodged a complaint with the Tirupur North police claiming their 13-year-old daughter had gone missing. Even as the sleuths were trying to trace her whereabouts, she returned on her own two days later.

What the girl had to tell about the two days away from home swung the city police into action, leading to the arrest of a 21-year-old youth from Chennai and a 27-year-old man from Puducherry. Police said the girl became friends with Siva (21) on Facebook recently. Over time, Siva talked her into eloping with him and on April 27, he reached Tirupur.

The girl gave her family members the slip and eloped with Siva to Chennai. After a brief stay there, Siva took her to a lodge in neighbouring Puducherry, where he allegedly raped her for two days. Later, Siva sold her gold chain weighing one sovereign, gave her the return fare to Tirupur and vanished. Finding the girl all alone, lodge owner Prabakaran (27) befriended the girl under the guise of helping her reach Tirupur. After realising what had happened, Prabakaran too allegedly sexually abused her.

The girl managed to escape from the lodge and reach Tirupur with the money Siva had left her. After hearing her tale, a team of sleuths traced Siva to Chennai and arrested him on Monday on charges of kidnapping and raping a minor girl. Another team nabbed Prabakaran from his lodge in Puducherry. Both the accused have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).