TIRUCHY: A car driver sexually abused a 16-year-old Dalit girl after knocking her unconscious with soft drinks laced with sedatives and then tried to dump her near her house in Tiruchy, where passersby noticed her in an unconscious state and chased down the driver and roughed him up before handing him over to the police.
According to police sources, the girl, who lives in the Gandhi Market police jurisdiction area, would frequently visit her trans sister at Kalmanthai Colony in Tiruchy city, where she lived with her community. The accused C Mari Selvan (42), a resident of Thirubuvanam in Sivaganga, was a driver at the house where the trans community members lived.
On Wednesday, the girl visited her sister at Kalmanthai colony, and Mari Selvan offered to drop her home in the evening.
On the way home, Mari Selvan offered her soft drinks laced with sedatives, and when she fell unconscious, he sexually abused her. Late in the evening, he dumped her in an unconscious state along a road at Keeraikadai bazaar near her house. Some people who noticed the girl chased the car and caught Mari Selvan. They beat him up; and shortly, the girl’s brothers too reached the spot and rained blows on him, leaving him severely injured in the face, legs and head. The police soon reached the spot and moved Mari Selvan to a government hospital.
Meanwhile, the girl’s sister, upon hearing of the incident, rushed to the spot and took her to a government hospital. After gaining consciousness, the girl narrated the incident to her sister who then lodged a complaint against Mari Selvan at the Gandhi Market police station.
On Thursday, the police registered a case against him under various sections, including the POCSO Act and Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST.