TW: Mention of physical and sexual assault
Around 1.30 pm on July 12, 10-year-old Priya (name changed) was walking to her grandmother’s house after a half day at school when she was abducted and subjected to sexual assault by an unidentified man near the Arambakkam Railway Station – just a kilometer away from the police station – in Tamil Nadu’s Thiruvallur district. The entire incident from the moment the man approached her, restrained her, and carried her away, was captured on CCTV footage. Yet ten days later, the police have not been able to identify the suspect.
Outside the Arambakkam F3 police station, protests swelled. A rope line now holds back demonstrators, including local residents, political party leaders, and civil society members, who are demanding swift action. In an attempt to seek public help, the Thiruvallur district police released posters in multiple languages, with CCTV images of the suspect, announcing a Rs 5 lakh reward for information.
A crime caught on camera, but no answers yet
The CCTV footage, which surfaced shortly after the incident, captures the chilling sequence with disturbing clarity. It shows Priya, studying in Class 4, walking alone on a deserted road near the Arambakkam Railway Station around midday on July 12, after being let off early from school. An unidentified man is seen trailing her.
As she slows down and briefly stops, the man overtakes her, walks a few steps ahead, then suddenly turns around and grabs her. The footage shows the child struggling as he forces her away, towards what police later identified as a nearby mango grove.
According to investigators, the girl was taken to a secluded area and sexually assaulted. Police said that when she began crying and raised an alarm, the man fled. She returned to her grandmother’s house and informed her of the incident, after which a police complaint was filed.
The child was immediately taken to the Government General Hospital in Ponneri for first aid, and later referred to the Government RSRM Lying-in Hospital in Royapuram for further treatment.
A case has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and eight Special Investigation Teams (SITs) have been formed. Each team is headed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police and tasked with investigating nearby areas, including Sulurpetta in Andhra Pradesh, as Gummidipoondi lies on the Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border. Police suspect the accused may be a migrant worker who has potentially crossed state lines, complicating the search.
A senior police official told reporters, “We are working round the clock, coordinating with Andhra Pradesh police and other agencies. The suspect’s face is not clear in all camera angles, and tracking a migrant worker across state borders is challenging. But we remain committed to bringing him to justice.”
On July 21, the Thiruvallur District Police released wanted posters in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and English, carrying CCTV stills of the suspect. The posters state the man is wanted in connection with the “the heinous crime of sexually assaulting a child. The public is requested to communicate any information pertaining to him,” and also offered a reward of Rs 5 lakh for information leading to his arrest. So far, however, the public response has yielded no concrete leads.
‘They keep asking us to wait for two days’: A family on the edge
Outside the Arambakkam F3 police station, the voice of Priya’s mother trembles with anger and exhaustion as she recounts the days since her daughter’s return: “My child is in extreme pain. Every time we go to the police, they say the same thing: ‘We’re looking, we’ll catch him in two days.’ It’s been ten days. Nothing has happened. They keep repeating those words like it’s a script.”
Her daughter had walked the same road many times before – returning from her school to her grandmother’s house, where she had been staying while her parents worked in Andhra Pradesh. On July 12, that familiar walk turned into a scene of trauma that the family is now struggling to process.
Since the incident, her parents have returned to Gummidipoondi to care for her. “She keeps asking, ‘Did they catch him yet?’” the mother says. “What do we say to her? We are the ones who have to hold her hand, but we ourselves are completely broken.”
Her father’s frustration is directed at the police. “The first day, they spoke kindly to us,” he says. “Now, when we ask questions, they shout. If it had been someone from a minister’s family or someone rich, they would have arrested the man in two days. Because we are poor, they keep making us wait.”
The mother further continues, saying, “After committing such an atrocity, he just ran away. The police say, ‘We’ll catch him, we’ll catch him’ – but when? If my child had died, would they still be saying this? She’s alive, and so they’re offering excuses.”
Protests intensify as public anger mounts
In the days following the incident, the road leading to the Arambakkam F3 police station has seen a steady flow of protesters holding placards and demanding answers. From the AIADMK and PMK to the BJP and Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), a range of political parties have made appearances outside the station, accusing the police of negligence and the government of apathy toward remote and underdeveloped areas like Gummidipoondi.
PMK member Thilagabama, who staged a sit-in inside the police station, said the case has exposed how border constituencies are routinely ignored. “If this is left unanswered, such incidents will keep happening. This area lies on the edge of the district and the state. The street where the girl was abducted didn’t even have streetlights until today. If it is like this now, what was it like ten days ago?”
Naga Jyothi, Thiruvallur district secretary of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), who visited the victim’s family at the hospital, highlighted serious gaps in the treatment facilities for POCSO victims in government hospitals. She pointed out that the victim suffered further due to the lack of proper medical equipment.
“The POCSO Act clearly mandates that all Taluk hospitals be equipped with specialized tools for assessing sexual crimes. However, the hospitals where the child was taken initially did not have these essential facilities. For a child already traumatized mentally and physically, being moved between hospitals without proper care only adds to her suffering. We urge the state government to form dedicated teams to ensure that every hospital is adequately stocked with the necessary equipment. This is a matter the government must urgently address,” she added.
Residents echo the same sentiment. They say the lack of basic infrastructure, including no lights, no regular patrolling, poor CCTV coverage in key areas, makes children especially vulnerable. “This is not just about one girl,” says a protester holding a handwritten sign. “How many more before something changes?”