Man who attacked retired teacher held

TRIPUNITHURA: Hill Palace police on Monday arrested a 40-year-old man on charges of attacking a retired teacher, allegedly with an intention to rob and rape her. The incident pertaining to the case happened on last Thursday.

The arrested has been identified as

Krishnamoorthy

(40), a native of

Lakshamveedu Colony

at Anjalitham near Thiruvankulam.

Police team, lead by circle inspector P S Shiju, took the accused to the spot on Monday afternoon for evidence collection. Police said the accused demonstrated the way he attacked the woman.

The accused had apparently told the police that he was hiding on the way to the teacher’s house. When the teacher returned from

Sree Poornathrayeesha

temple, Krishnamoorthy caught her from the back. When she tried to resist the move, the duo fell down, said a police officer.

The teacher then hit her jaw on the edge of the concrete drainage and lost four teeth. Krishnamoorthy then hit her on the face with a stone. Police have recovered the stone from the spot.

Police suspect that he had planned to rape her besides snatching her ornaments. The accused escaped before passers-by reached the spot. They first took her to nearby hospital and she was later shifted to a specialist hospital. She underwent two surgeries and is yet to be discharged.

Krishnamoorthy was produced before the magistrate and was remanded in judicial custody for 15 days.

“We could start the man hunt only after getting the video footage of the accused from a

CCTV

placed near a flower mart at

Statue Junction

on Friday,” said Shiju.

Meanwhile, a women group in Tripunithura, especially those residing near Sree Poornathrayeesha temple, have staged a unique protest by creating a women chain demanding installation of CCTVs near temple roads and displaying helpline numbers near pocket roads leading to the temple.

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