TIRUCHY: Thanjavur police on Monday arrested a senior citizen man under the Pocso Act for sexually abusing a nine-year-old boy from Thiruvidaimaruthur.

According to police, on March 14, while the boy was playing in front of his house in a village near Thiruvidaimaruthur in Thanjavur, Jabarullah (61), a carpenter from the same village forcibly took the boy into his house and sexually abused him after gagging his mouth. Jabarullah also threatened the boy with dire consequences if he informed the incident to others.

However, the boy who did not disclose the incident he had encountered seemed to be very tired and depressed and so his mother inquired about him. As his mother insisted, he narrated the incident to her.

Soon, the boy’s mother approached the Thiruvidaimaruthur All-Women police and complained. The police conducted an investigation based on the complaint. Subsequently, the police found that the complaint was genuine and so a case was registered against Jabarullah under various sections including the POCSO act. On Monday, the police arrested him and later he was lodged in the prison under judicial custody.