Meenakshi Sundaram, the 60-year-old Chennai man accused of the rape and murder of a four-year-old child in June this year, has been released on bail. According to reports, Meenakshi Sundaram was granted bail by a magistrate court in Thiruvallur. His wife Rajamma, who had also been arrested for being a party to the crime, had earlier been released on bail on November 20.
According to one report in The Hindu, police sources said that the couple's release was on account of Meenakshi Sundaram being aged and diabetic. The parents of the child told the newspaper that they were fearful of the Meenakshi Sundaram's release as they had been threatened by the couple earlier. The distraught parents have also sought a speedy trial.
On June 28, the city woke up to the horrifying news of the rape and murder of a four-year-old child. The gruesome murder came to light when the child’s body was discovered stuffed in a woven plastic bag and placed inside a water bucket in her own home.
The child had been home alone the previous day in the evening for a short while when her father was at work and her mother had gone to drop off her brother at his tuition class nearby. Meenakshi Sundaram, a retired army man, is reported to have taken the child to his house during this time, raped her, murdered her and brought the body back to the house.
In order to be above suspicion, when the frantic parents searched the neighbourhood for the child upon their return, Meenakshi Sundaram too had pretended to aid their efforts. In a horrifying sight for the family of the four-year-old, the child was later found inside their own bathroom. Her body had been stuffed into the woven plastic bag which bore the name of a rice company, and was placed inside a water bucket with her feet up.
An FIR was registered against the couple who have been booked under Sections 376A (Punishment for causing death or resulting in persistent vegetative state of victim) and 302 (Punishment for murder), in addition to Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act (Punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault). The Goondas Act was also added later.
The probe against the couple is still underway.