The Trichy police have ruled out sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl whose body was found near a waste disposal area in Trichy's Somarasampettai. The minor's body was found charred on Monday, and the doctors who have conducted the postmortem have confirmed that the burn injuries were responsible for her death.
The class 9 student, according to the police, was last seen playing with friends at around noon on Monday and had left the group to relieve herself. However when she didn't return, her relatives went looking for her. Shocked by the sight of her charred body, the police were immediately informed.
Villagers then began protests demanding immediate justice for the victim and even stopped the ambulance taking the body for a postmortem. Tensions only eased after Trichy superintendent of police Ziaul Haque assured the family and other villagers that the matter will be investigated on priority. The body was then sent to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital.
Speaking to TNM, an investigating officer in the case says, "The postmortem is complete and while the report will take two to three days to come out, the doctor has confirmed that there was no sexual assault. Death has been confirmed as due to burn injuries."
The police are currently conducting an inquiry with two suspects.
"We have formed 10 teams to probe different angles. We are looking into any past harassment, family problems, neighbours involvement or personal enmity which led to the crime," says the investigating officer.
The death of the young girl comes just days after a 7-year-old Dalit girl from Pudukkottai district was found dead with severe injuries on her face . The girl had allegedly been sexually assaulted and murdered on July 1 by her neighbour, 25-year-old Raja.
The police found the minor's body in the forest area near her village with her clothes in a state of disarray and her face was severely injured. Her parents filed a missing complaint following which the search for the girl was launched.