An 11-year-old girl was allegedly raped at a Chennai apartment building by several men over months. The police have arrested 17 people, including the building’s security guard.
The Perpetrators sedated the class VII girl with injection, drug-laced soft drinks and a powder that they made her sniff before sexually assaulting her and videographer themselves in the act, an investigating officer said. They blackmailed the child into silence for a prolonged period with the threat of releasing the videos and by menacing her with violence, he said
‘This continued till the girl on Saturday told her elder sister, a college student on a visit home from Delhi, about the trauma she was going through,’ the officer said. ‘The sister informed their parents, who filled a complaint with the Ayanvaram all women police’.
The girl told police that Ravi Kumar, 66, an elevator operator in the largely unoccupied 300-flat complex, first sexually assaulted her. Three days later he brought two men reeking of alcohol from outside the complex who videotaped themselves raping her. Other men soon joined in, sexually assaulting the child repeatedly.
‘Ravi would lead away from the child as she alighted from her school van to the basement, public washrooms, the terrace, and gym, where he and his accomplices raped her,’ the officer said. ‘Many of the flats was vacant so the suspects had little hindrance while committing the crime.’
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The arrested suspects are employees of a UK based security firm in Chennai.
‘The girl’s father was away at work through most of the day,’ the officer said. ‘Her mother, a homemaker, did not think anything was amiss when the girl came home late from school. She assumed that her daughter was playing with friends in the complex.’
Police on Monday had her statement recorded in the Mahila Court after arresting 18 suspects and charging them under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) act.
‘We have sent seized syringes and an empty soft drink bottle to the forensic laboratory to the determine what drug they used,’ the officer said, adding that investigator has also send seized condoms for tests.
The suspects are identified as:-
Security guards Murugesh, 54
Palani, 40
Abhishek, 23
Sugumaran, 60
Prakash, 58
Umapathy, 42
Elevator operators Ravi Kumar Paramasivam, 60
Dheenadayalan, 50,
Srinivasan, 45
Babu, 36
Plumbers Jaiganesh, 23
Raja, 32
Surya, 23
Suresh, 32
Electrician Jayaraman, 26
Housekeeping employee, Rajasekar, 40
Gardener Gunasekar, 55
Report NDTV, TOI