HARASSMENT

Chennai: BJP leader arrested for alleged sexual assault on minor

Accused was a BJP candidate from R.K. Nagar constituency during 2006 assembly polls

Representative image | Reuters Representative image | Reuters

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor girl in the Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai express on Monday.

The accused has been identified as K.P. Prem Ananth, an advocate. He was a BJP candidate from RK Nagar constituency, in Chennai, during 2006 assembly election.

Following the complaint of the child, Erode Railway Police arrested the accused under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on Sunday, and later remanded in judicial custody.

The accused allegedly assaulted the minor girl when she was asleep. The victim woke up and shouted, following which her family nabbed him. 

The news comes just a day after President Ram Nath Kovind promulgated an ordinance to pave way for providing stringent punishment, including death penalty, for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years.