12 cases of sexual assault on children, women in 24 hours shock Chennai | Chennai News
CHENNAI: A three-year-old girl was raped and murdered, and seven other minor girls and four women were sexually assaulted in and around Chennai in 24 hours since Sunday. Police said the three-year-old, daughter of guest workers from Bihar, was raped by 19-year-old Bibin Manjhi, also from Bihar and a frequent visitor to their house at Gummidipoondi in Tiruvallur district.According to police, the child was playing near her home around 5pm on Sunday when Manjhi, who was drunk, approached her offering to buy her snacks. He took her to an isolated spot, raped her and abandoned her in the bushes. When the child did not return, her parents and neighbours launched a search and after a few hours found her with injuries. A local said he had spotted the child with Manjhi and the villagers nabbed and assaulted him as he tried to flee. Police later arrested him.An official of a govt hospital where the girl was taken said she was in shock and had respiratory distress. She succumbed to her injuries around 7am on Monday.Eleven other cases of sexual harassment were reported across Chennai and its outskirts including Avadi, Tambaram and Tiruvallur in the past 24 hours. Seven of them involved minors. At Manimangalam, a guest worker from West Bengal sexually abused a 10-year-old girl on Sunday night. A six-year-old girl was sexually abused by her 40-year-old neighbour at Kattupakkam on Sunday evening. In Tiruvallur, an autorickshaw driver sexually assaulted a Class VII student.In Mylapore, police arrested a 26-year-old man for showing indecent gestures to a 12-year-old girl when she was home alone. In Perambur, a 23-year-old man was arrested for harassing a 17-year-old schoolgirl. In Ambattur, two men sexually assaulted two minor girls.Four women were also sexually harassed in separate incidents. In Mangadu, a security guard took a 23-year-old woman with mental disabilities to a secluded spot and raped her. In Porur, a 29-year-old man riding on a bike sexually abused a woman walking on the road on Sunday night. In Koyambedu, a 26-year-old security guard sexually assaulted a 23-year-old woman at her residence early on Monday. At a mall on Anna Salai in the heart of the city, a 41-year-old man sexually harassed a 38-year-old woman inside an elevator on Sunday. Police nabbed the suspects in all the cases.Neighbours of the three-year-old on Monday held a road roko demanding better safety for children. The Tiruvallur police held talks with the protesters and assured them that a detailed investigation was underway.Residents also expressed concerns over the safety of children living in worker settlements, saying that many parents leave for work early in the morning and return only in the evening. They urged policemen to strengthen security measures in the area.
