Designer held for exploiting boy

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A

man arrested

on charges of

sexually abusing

a

minor boy

was remanded in

judicial custody

, police said on Saturday.

Thampanoor police, who arrested Haneefa of Thalassery in Kannur district, said he befriended the 16-year-old boy who had run away from his home.

The man took the boy to a lodge on the pretext of offering him a job and subjected him to unnatural sex.

After escaping from Haneefa, the boy returned home and narrated the incident to his family, who contacted the police.

Haneefa, a costume designer, worked mainly for participants of school arts festivals.