Man held for sexually assaulting minor
19 Jan 2009
CHENNAI: Police on Saturday arrested a 41-year-old man for sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl who lives with her family in a rented house in New Washermanpet.
The girl, a native of Bihar, resides with her family on the first floor of a two-storeyed building in New Washermanpet, with the house owner Kutti Vel on the ground floor. When neighbours heard the girl screaming from her residence on Saturday, they rushed in only to see Vel sexually assaulting her. He was under the influence of alcohol and half-naked.
The neighbours thrashed Vel before taking him to the local police station. Vel reportedly was living alone. His wife had left him with their two children for her parents’ home after a family dispute.
Vel, a daily labourer in a private company, had rented out the first floor of his house to the family from Bihar. The girl’s father, Surendar Sharma, is an employee in a shutter manufacturing company in the city. On Saturday, Sharma’s wife had gone out, leaving her daughter alone at home. The girl, a Class I student in a private school, was playing at home as it was a holiday for her. Vel sneaked into the house pretending to ask for something. Noticing her alone, he took undue advantage.
Based on Sharma’s complaint, New Washermanpet police have registered a case and booked Vel under Section 377 (unnatural sex) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Police arrested him and remanded him in prison after producing him before a magistrate on Sunday.
