Father, three others held for rape of 12-year-old in Coimbatore

Coimbatore: A father who had been raping his 12-year-old daughter along with three other neighbours for the last two years at Irugur, on the city outskirts, was arrested by the rural police on Sunday. Police said the accused R Yesudas, 57; a painter from Marimuthu Vathiyar street had raped his only daughter, when her mother, who works as a sanitary staff in a departmental store, was away at work.

Three neighbours - M Premkumar (19), R Balan alias Balakrishnan (30), both painters and S Ravikumar alias Stalin (27), a two wheeler mechanic - who came to know of this had also raped the little girl in the absence of both her father and mother by threatening to reveal what was going on. The victim is a school dropout and used to be alone at home when her parents went out to work. A government school teacher, who came to know about the incident, had tipped off authorities on the child helpline.

Based on a complaint by the helpline, cops of All Women Police Station (East) registered a case and arrested the girl’s father and three others on Sunday. The girl had become mentally disturbed due to the trauma. The child helpline officials, who rescued the girl from further exploitation, counseled the girl. She is being sheltered in a children’s home.

“The girl still doesn’t know that she was sexually exploited, but narrates the incident with horror and fear. She was also subjected to a medical examination at the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) before being sheltered in a home,” a police official said. The police have registered a case under sections 3 and 4 of protection of children from sexual offenses (POCSO) act 2012.