Girl gang-raped before being killed in Tiruttani

Tiruvallur police officials confirmed that Shankaraih (19) from Pattabiram, a second year BCom student studying in a private college, was involved in a relationship with the minor girl and had lured her to a sugarcane farm to get intimate with her.

According to the police, Shankaraiah had taken the victim to a secluded part of the farm and had sexually assaulted her. Four farm helps who spotted the couple immediately alerted caretaker Suresh (46), who later informed the land owner.

“Investigation has revealed that the two were caught by caretaker Suresh who then informed a few others including the land owner Bhaskar Naidu and the girl’s maternal uncle Murugan (31),” a senior police officer said.

According to the police, the victim was held hostage in a pumphouse in the sugarcane farm for over a week and was repeatedly raped before she was killed. “While we have confirmed the involvement of Shankaraiah in the case, we are yet to confirm the role of the other three suspects and are interrogating them,” the officer said.

Further, the police said that the victim was familiar with the sugarcane farm as her mother worked as a labourer in Bhaskar Naidu’s farm and she herself used to go there every morning to supply milk to the family. “After she returned home, her mother went there to work,” the official said.

The victim was last seen going to school in July last year and her skeletal remains were discovered late on Sunday at the farm in Tiruttani.