Schoolmate among accused in shocking Vizhinjam abuse case; five held, three minors

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Five people, including three minors, have been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing two schoolgirls in Vizhinjam. One of the accused is a schoolmate of the girls, police said. The two adult accused have been identified as Tinu, 20, of Lakshamveedu, Kanjiramvila, Mukkola, and Linson, 21, of Susanna House, Thulavila, Kottappuram, both in Vizhinjam. Three school students who are minors were also arrested.

According to police, the accused allegedly roamed around in an autorickshaw, lured the girls by pretending to be romantically interested in them, and sexually abused them. The alleged incidents began in December last year, with the girls taken to two separate houses and sexually abused. The accused later allegedly threatened the girls, claiming to possess nude photographs of them, and attempted to sexually abuse them again. As part of this alleged harassment, one of the accused, who had studied at a nearby school last year, was admitted to the school attended by the girls during the current academic year after obtaining a transfer certificate. Police said the first and second accused helped facilitate the transfer.

The student was allegedly used to threaten the girls with claims that nude photographs of them existed. When the girls avoided the accused, they allegedly continued to harass them on the road, repeatedly arriving in an autorickshaw. The girls eventually approached the police and lodged a complaint.

The five were arrested following an investigation into the complaint, said Vizhinjam Station House Officer K. Hemanth Kumar. The arrest team comprised Sub-Inspector Prashanth, Senior Civil Police Officer Vinayan and Civil Police Officer Rejin. Mobile phones were recovered from the accused. Police are yet to trace the autorickshaw and are investigating whether more people were involved in the case.