THODUPUZHA: The incident where a six-year-old girl was found hanging in Idukki Vandiperiyar has been proven to be a murder. A 22-year-old neighbour, Arjun, was arrested in the incident. Police said the child was killed and hanged.
The youngest daughter of a couple in Vandiperiyar Churakkulam estate was found dead last month. The incident happened when the parents went to work. The girl's body was found hanging in a room.
The body was found when the brother, who had gone out, returned. The first assumption was that the rope got tightened around the neck while playing indoors. The girl was found to be a victim of severe torture in the postmortem conducted at Kottayam Medical College. Arjun was arrested during the ensuing investigation.
The post-mortem revealed that the youth, who lived in the next room in the estate, had been abusing the child for days. The accused took advantage of the parents going to work in the morning and abused the child. On the day of the murder, the girl fell unconscious while Arjun was abusing her at home. Police said the six-year-old girl, who fell unconscious, was hung from a rope inside the room by the youth as he thought she died. The accused, who was taken into custody on charges of POCSO, will be produced in court.