The Chennai police on Thursday arrested a 33-year-old man who had absconded to Coimbatore in connection to the suicide of a 13-year-old that was reported in June. It has also come to light that the man, identified as Gunaseelan, had allegedly sexually assaulted and threatened her.
Gunaseelan has been booked under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and section 65 (intentionally destroying the computer source code kept for investigation) of the Information Technology Act.
On June 14, the Taramani police registered a case of unnatural death in the matter and were investigating when they found a suspicious message on the girl’s mother’s phone from Gunaseelan’s number. It was found during investigations that Gunaseelan, who was a tenant at her parents’ house, then moved to Kallukuttai right after her death.
Gunaseelan, who used to tutor the girl, reportedly threatened her with explicit photos and videos of her abuse, to demand sexual favours in return. He allegedly threatened to post them online if she refused to oblige.
During investigations, Gunaseelan was summoned and was asked to hand over his phone. While he had deleted its contents, the police reportedly recovered pictures of minor girls downloaded from the internet in addition to the photos of the deceased girl.
Gunaseelan then fled to Coimbatore and went into hiding from where he was arrested by the police. Upon being questioned, he reportedly confessed to having threatened and harassed the 13-year-old victim for sexual favours. Gunaseelan has now been sent to judicial custody.
State health department suicide helpline number - 104
Sneha Suicide Prevention Centre - 044-24640050 (listed as the sole suicide prevention helpline in TN)
Telangana government suicide prevention toll free no - 104
Roshni- 040-66202000, 66202001
SEVA- 09441778290, 040 - 27504682 (between 9 AM and 7 PM)
Sahai : 24-hour helpline numbers: 080- 65000111, 080-65000222
Maithri helpline - 0484-2540530
Chaithram helpline: 0484-2361161
Both are 24-hour helpline numbers.
Life Suicide Prevention Helpline No.78930-78930
Roshni Helpline 1: 9166202000 Helpline 2: 9127848584