The Kerala Police have arrested five people including two policemen for allegedly raping a 16-year-old teenage girl from Kerala’s Alappuzha district.
The police arrested the girl’s relative and the prime accused in the case, Athira and four others on Tuesday, January 16 based on a statement by the girl, who confided in a woman police officer about her prolonged sexual assault by many men after persistent prodding.
The two police officers arrested include a civil police officer Nelson Thomas and a probationary sub-inspector of the Kerala police Laiju. They arrested two others from Ernakulam.
The sex racket
According to reports, Athira exploited the poor economic condition of the girl’s family. The girl’s father is disabled and her mother is mentally ill. She had been taking the teenager out with her to various places where she was subjected to repeated sexual assaults.
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The incident came to light when the girl’s neighbours stopped Athira when she was taking the teenager out.
The woman police officer said that the girl’s parents are completely clueless about the teenager’s plight as Athira is a close relative.
The woman police officer told The News Minute that the girl remembers some of the names based on which the police have started their investigation.
The police have registered cases under various sections of the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act (Pocso) and Juvenile Justice Act. “We have set up a special investigation team also to probe the case in detail and to look up if more people are involved,” Alappuzha district superintendent of police K Surendran told IANS.
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The girl has now been shifted to a rescue home.
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