A 3-year-old girl died in Gummidipoondi in the Thiruvallur district in Tamil Nadu after she was found with severe injuries from sexual assault. A 19-year-old migrant worker from Bihar has been arrested on suspicion.
The toddler was also the daughter of workers from Bihar who had settled in the SIPCOT industrial estate area of Gummidipoondi.
The accused was also employed at the same firm. Police said that the child was acquainted with him as he used to play with the child. According to a resident in the area, Indumathi, the child was playing around her house when she was abducted.
The suspect lured her with biscuits before attacking her and abandoning her in the bushes. The parents and the local community had started a search.
A local woman who had gone into the bushes found the child and tried to clean her. She reported the matter after finding out that the child was seriously injured.
"The child was at home. The man offered her biscuits and took her away. She was later found abandoned in the bushes by a woman who had gone there to relieve herself. She cleaned the child and realised her condition was serious," Indumati said. She was rushed to the Tiruvallur Government Hospital but succumbed to injuries during treatment.
The locals and other migrant workers who were outraged caught the 19-year-old suspect, Vipin Manju, and beat him before handing him over to the Chipkot police station.
Amid the anger over the crime, the locals had assaulted a few other men who shared rooms with the accused over suspicion that they could also be involved. However, the police dismissed claims that the attack was a gang rape. "This is not a case of gang rape. Only one person was involved," the officer said.
The police initially registered a case under the POCSO Act after the child was found.
Following the child’s death, the police are likely to add murder charges against the suspect.
The Gummidipoondi police said that details of the incident and the real cause of the child's death will be known after the medical examination and post-mortem report.
Meanwhile, opposition leaders have criticised the ruling party in Tamil Nadu over the increasing number of crimes against women and children.
A few months ago, a 10-year-old girl was found dead in Thiruvallur after being sexually assaulted.
