Of the 59 individuals charged with the alleged years-long sexual assault of an 18-year-old Dalit girl in the Pathanamthitta district, Kerala police have detained 57 of them.
The 25-year-old guy who was nabbed from his home on Sunday morning was the last suspect to be put into custody, district police head VG Vinod Kumar informed news agency PTI.
Since she was 13, the victim has accused 62 people of sexually abusing her and blackmailing her over a five-year period. When the teen’s instructors reported to the District Child Welfare Committee that she was acting strangely, the abuse was discovered.
The committee notified the police after the girl disclosed the extent of the abuse during counselling. On January 10, a case was filed at the Ilavumthitta police station.
All of the identified accused, with the exception of two who are now overseas, have been taken into custody following a thorough investigation, according to district police head Kumar. Under his direction, a special inquiry team headed by female IPS officer S Ajitha Beegam has been looking into the issue.
According to the victim’s statement, the district’s four police stations have already registered 30 complaints. The girl further disclosed that five juveniles had sexually abused her.
According to the investigation, the victim was met by a number of the accused at a district private bus stop. According to police, she was then abused while being driven to several places.
According to police, the victim was gang-raped at least five times, including in January 2024 at the Pathanamthitta General Hospital and inside a car. The girl and three other people were raped within a rubber plantation in Ranni last year by a young man who reached out to her on Instagram.
The goal, according to the district police head, is to finish the investigation and turn in the charge sheet as quickly as feasible.