Palakkad: The North Station police here has registered a POCSO case along with charges of rape and murder against two people from Tamil Nadu, who are part of a gang of beggars, in the case related to the recovery of the dead body of four-year-old girl from near Olavakkode Railway Station last month.
The North Circle Inspector C.Alavi, who is heading the investigation team, said that Suresh (37), a native of Tiruvallur, and Femina Pichaikkani (21), a native of Thanjavur, were arrested and presented before a court in Palakkad. They were sent to judicial custody.
The decomposed body of the girl was found abandoned in a bag near Olavakkode railway junction in the first week of January. The rape and murder accused Suresh, who is a seasoned criminal, drug addict and sexual pervert, had confessed before the cops that he along with another gang member (who is yet to be arrested) tried to rape the four-year-old girl by taking her to an isolated area near the FCI godown at Olavakkode.
The girl, whom the gang members say was abducted from Kulithalai in Tiruchirappalli, screamed during the rape attempt. The two men then gagged her eventually leading to her death due to suffocation. They then strangled the child to confirm that she had died and the five-member gang of beggars disposed the dead body in a bag and left Olavakkode as two teams.
"The arrested woman Femina is six months pregnant and has a 11-month-old baby with her. The arrested duo claims that they are husband and wife. As the body of the victim girl was fully decomposed, it has become a challenge for us to get her whereabouts. The team is in search of the remaining three-members of the gang in Tamil Nadu and Kerala border," the CI said.
On the basis of a month-long investigation, the CI said that if a baby girl got abducted by such a gang from the slum areas in TN either a complaint is filed or an inquiry is conducted. The beggar mafia associated with the railway is well organised and almost 75 percent of the children seen with such beggar groups might be abducted.
