Man arrested for raping 10-year-old

COIMBATORE: A 48-year-old man was on Sunday arrested for raping a 10-year-old school girl at her residence at Thoppampalayam Vettukadu near Madukkarai on the outskirts of the city on Saturday.
When the incident took place the girl was alone at her house as her mother, along with her younger sister, had gone to a government hospital and her father had left for work.Her neighbour took advantage of the situation to rape her.
The arrested was identified as M Thangavel of Thoppampalayam Vettukadu. Police said the victim was a Class V student of a local school. Her father was a contract worker with Tangedco, while her mother was employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
A stray dog had bitten the victim’s girl’s younger sister on May 26. On Saturday, the victim’s mother took her younger daughter to the government hospital at Myleripalayam near Madukkarai on Saturday. The mother had requested a woman from the neighbourhood to take care of her elder daughter, as she was alone in the house.
When the mother returned home around 2.30pm, she found her elder daughter crying. The girl told her mother that she was watching television when someone knocked on the door. When she opened the door, Thangavel entered inside, gagged her using a cloth and raped her repeatedly at the house. He also threatened the girl not to reveal the incident to anyone.
The girl’s mother immediately approached the Madukkarai police who registered a case under various sections of the Protection of Children from the Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and arrested Thangavel on Sunday.
He was later lodged at the Coimbatore Central Prison. The girl was, meanwhile, sent to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) for medical examination. Further investigation is on.