The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Kerala police, which probed the alleged rape and murder of a five-year-old child in Aluva in July this year, has submitted a charge sheet in the case to the Ernakulam Additional Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court on Friday, a top officer familiar with the matter said.
The sole accused in the case, a 29-year-old native from Bihar, has been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Pocso Act including kidnapping, destruction of evidence, rape and murder.
As per the chargesheet, the accused has been booked under sections 364 (kidnapping), 364A (kidnapping for ransom), 367 (kidnapping to subject to grievous hurt), 376 (2)(n), 376(a)(b) (rape on woman under 12 years of age), 376(a) of the IPC, sections 3 read with 4 of Pocso Act, sections 5 read with 6 of the Pocso Act, sections 328 (causing hurt by means of poison), 297 ( trespassing on burial places), 201 (destruction of evidence) and 302 (murder) of the IPC.
“The accused has been booked previously for sexual offences under the Pocso Act at the Ghazipur police station in Delhi. He came to Kerala in 2021 and has been living here since then, doing odd jobs,” said Vivek Kumar, superintendent of police (SP), Ernakulam (Rural), under whose leadership the probe was completed and the chargesheet was filed.
“On the day of the incident, he [the accused] kidnapped the five-year-old girl from her neighbourhood by luring her with sweets and soft drinks. He took her to a secluded spot with the intention of sexual gratification. He raped her and subsequently strangulated her to death. The accused then covered the child’s body with garbage and stones to hide it,” the officer added.
{{/usCountry}}“On the day of the incident, he [the accused] kidnapped the five-year-old girl from her neighbourhood by luring her with sweets and soft drinks. He took her to a secluded spot with the intention of sexual gratification. He raped her and subsequently strangulated her to death. The accused then covered the child’s body with garbage and stones to hide it,” the officer added.
{{/usCountry}}The officer said that there are several witnesses who saw the accused walking with the child before the committing the crime and the CCTV camera visuals also show the accused going to the secluded spot and coming out alone. The police have also collected medical evidence and DNA samples which point to the complicity of the accused.
The incident of alleged rape and murder of the five-year-old girl, daughter of migrant workers from Bihar, took place on July 28 near Aluva, a suburb outside of Kochi. The crime sent shockwaves through Kerala with activists deploring the lack of safety for children even in residential neighbourhoods in the state.