Ernakulam Town Police on Wednesday nabbed three Kochi natives for allegedly sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl. The group allegedly took a video of the act and used it to threaten the child. The accused persons were nabbed by the police after the child approached the police station along with her parents and filed a complaint.
The girl was allegedly in a relationship with one of the abusers - 19-year-old Lithin, who sexually assaulted her multiple times. According to police, 25-year-old Bibin and his wife Varsha, who are the neighbours of the girl, took a video of Lithin sexually assaulting her.
“Lithin was in an alleged relationship with the girl and he abused her in June. Following the incident, he was threatening the girl and assaulted her again at the home of her neighbours, Bibin and Varsha. This was recorded on video by the couple on a mobile phone,” the police said.
Bibin and Varsha, the second and third accused in the case, were arrested by the police in Kochi on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Lithin surrendered in the POCSO court in Ernakulam.
The child eventually told her parents about the incidents when Bibin and Varsha threatened to share nude images.
The accused have been booked and arrested under multiple charges of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. "Section 5 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault, 6 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault), 8 (Punishment for sexual assault), 11 (sexual harrassment), 12 (punishment for sexual harrasement), 17 (punishment for abetment) of POCSO and section 376 (Punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code have been imposed,” investigation officer told TNM.
According to police officers, the mobile phones of the accused have been sent for forensic tests to retrieve evidence. The three accused have been remanded by the POCSO court in judicial custody for 14 days.
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