Chennai, April 16: A 14-year-old
girl was allegedly raped and sexually assaulted by 12 men, multiple times over
several months, including by her sister’s husband and her employer, after she
joined work as a domestic help and started staying at her sister’s home in
Tiruchengode of Namakkal district in Tamil Nadu.
Following a complaint from the
district child welfare officer, the police registered a case and arrested 11
people, while the search is on to trace another accused who is absconding.
According to reports, the girl
discontinued her schooling after Class 6 since her father fell ill. She is one
among three daughters of a couple, who are daily wage workers. Officials said
that to support her family, she joined as a domestic help at the home of one Kannan
and started staying at her sister's home in Tiruchengode.
A few months ago, her sister's
husband allegedly started to sexually assault the girl while she was alone .Her
brother -in -law's friends also sexually assaulted her multiple times, police
said. According to a preliminary investigation, the girl was also allegedly
sexually tortured by her employer Kannan and at least seven others sexually
violated her at Kannan’s home.
While the girl informed her parents
about the abuse, her mother reportedly received Rs 10,000 from one of the
accused, which was used for her father's treatment. However, locals from the
girl's village informed the Child Welfare officer who came to her rescue,
according to reports. District Child Welfare officer T Ranjitha Priya conducted
an inquiry and gave a complaint to the Tiruchengode All Women’s Police Station
(AWPS) on Tuesday.
The police identified the accused as
employer Kannan, who works as a junior engineer at BSNL office in
Komarapalayam, brother-in-law Chinraj, his friends Vadivel, Sundaram, Kumar and
employer's friends Panneer, Murthy, Abi, Gopi, Sekar, Shankar and Saravanan.
The accused were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)
and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.