A 16-year-old girl with a speech impairment was allegedly sexually assaulted by a man in a village in Madurai districton Saturday evening.
The accused has been identified as 21-year-old Sountharapandi from a village near Tirumangalam. Police told The Times of India that the girl could not scream for help as she was speech-impaired and that the accused knew about her condition and exploited it.
Sountharapandi abducted the girl when she went to collect grass for her cattle on Saturday evening. He took her to his aunt's house and sexually abused her.
After sexually assaulting the girl, Sountharapandi escaped from the house. The girl managed to reach her house and narrated the incident to her parents. The girl's parents took her to the Tirumangalam all-women police station and lodged a complaint.
The police booked Sountharapandi under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and arrested him.