3 schoolkids raped, sodomised in TN, 3 minors among 4 held | India News
COIMBATORE: Two schoolgirls and a boy aged between 10 and 12 years were raped and sodomised repeatedly over the past few months by four minors and an 18-year-old youth in Coimbatore.
Four of the accused were arrested Friday after a call to the child helpline alerted authorities. One of the minors has gone absconding and police are looking for him.
Sources said the four minor boys, who are school dropouts, and the 18-year-old accused, first befriended the children and took them to an isolated place near their village and raped them.
They blackmailed the kids, who were from poor families, with videos of the act and beat them up if they refused to do their bidding.
The parents of the three victims learnt about the sexual assault on Friday morning after the boy confided in a relative. As the parents were reluctant to file a police complaint, some villagers contacted ChildLine (1098) and reported the crime.
Based on ChildLine coordinator’s complaint, the all-women police registered a case against the five accused under the Pocso Act. The three arrested minors were lodged at a juvenile home, while the 18-year-old was remanded in judicial custody and sent to Coimbatore jail.
