Kerala: Kin held for rape-murder of 7 year old

Kollam: The body of a seven-year-old girl, who was raped and murdered, was found  in a rubber plantation at  Kulathupuzha here on Thursday.  She was a standard-II student. Her father had abandoned the family some time ago. The police arrested the accused Rajesh, 24, of Chandanakkavu at  Kulathupuzha, for the crime.  He had been absconding after the incident.  Rajesh, a rubber tapper, is an accused in a vehicle theft case registered by the  Kulathupuzha police.  He had been staying with her mother’s sister for the last  two months.    The girl had gone missing on Wednesday after she had left for school.

According to Anchal CI A. Abhilash, the girl’s grandmother had asked Rajesh to take her to the school on Wednesday.  Usually, the grandmother accompanied her.   Rajesh took her to Kulathupuzha on the pretext of visiting a temple there and later to  the plantation where he committed the crime. The autopsy of the body was conducted at the Thiruvananthapuram MCH. The child rights commission registered a suo motu case on the incident  and sought a report from the Rural SP and the district child protection officer within two weeks.