A 17-year-old boy has been apprehended by the police for allegedly sexually assaulting and murdering a nine-year-old boy in Karukkakurichi village in Tamil Nadu' Pudukottai.
The victim, a Class 4 student and the son of an agricultural daily wage laborer, went missing after going out to play with friends around 6.30 pm on June 27. Following an intense search, his body was discovered late that night near a pond just 100 meters from his home.
The child bore visible injury marks on his face and neck, and was found partially clothed, raising immediate red flags for investigators.
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Breakthrough in the Investigation
Initially, the Vadakadu police registered the case as a suspicious death under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). However, following a forensic examination of the crime scene assisted by a sniffer dog, the charges were altered to include murder and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, news agency PTI reported.
According to the report, the breakthrough came on the morning of June 28, when children who had been playing with the victim revealed to investigators that they saw the 17-year-old suspect, a local resident, leading the victim away shortly before he disappeared.
{{/usCountry}}According to the report, the breakthrough came on the morning of June 28, when children who had been playing with the victim revealed to investigators that they saw the 17-year-old suspect, a local resident, leading the victim away shortly before he disappeared.
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Based on this lead, police detained the teenager for interrogation. "During questioning, the suspect confessed to making sexual advances toward the nine-year-old. When the child resisted and attempted to flee, the teenager strangled him to death with a piece of cloth," a police source confirmed.
The minor accused was formally processed and lodged in a juvenile correctional facility on Monday morning.
(With inputs from PTI)