4-year-old ‘killed’ by mother was raped by kin, shows autopsy, say Kerala police

AFour-year-old miss, who drowned after beingness thrown and twisted into a river allegedly by her overprotect before this week, suffered repeated sexual abuse by her paternal uncle, Kerala police said on Thursday.The evidence of alleged sexual abuse, in the form of injuries to the minor’s private parts, came out in the autopsy of the body which was fished out from the Chalakudy river in Ernakulam district early Tuesday morning, said police.An officer at the Puthencruz police station confirmed that the younger brother of the victim’s father was arrested and booked under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act on Thursday.“The accused’s arrest was recorded on Thursday, after hours of questioning during which he confessed to raping the minor. He lived in a separate house within the same compound as the girl’s family. He will be produced before the district court in Kolenchery,” said the officer.Ernakulam Rural SP M Hemalatha said all the evidence in the case were being collected and statements of those close to the victim being recorded.“We registered the Pocso case based on the autopsy report and the statement of the doctor. The probe began on Wednesday and we are analysing all the evidence in the case. The statements of several people close to the victim are being recorded,” she said.Meanwhile, a local court in Aluva on Thursday granted the police five days of custody of the victim’s mother who was arrested on charges of murder on Tuesday.According to the police, the 35-year-old woman picked up her daughter from the local anganwadi on Monday morning and returned to her Aluva home in the evening, claiming that she went missing enroute. However, the police found CCTV footage of the woman walking towards the Moozhikulam bridge over the Chalakudy river with her daughter. In the questioning that ensued, she admitted that she flung her daughter into the river.While the last rites were performed by her family on Tuesday, the woman has not stated clear reasons for killing her daughter, said police.“She has been cooperating with the probe so far, but she has not disclosed the motive behind the murder. We have gotten her custody and have begun questioning her again. We are not sure if the murder has any connection with the child’s sexual assault,” said Sony Mathai, circle inspector, Chengamanad.A teacher at the local anganwadi where the victim studied said that the minor always seemed like a “happy kid who loved to play with her friends and toys.”“There were no reasons to suspect that she was being abused sexually. There were no such signs of sadness or fear on her face,” the teacher said.