Woman among 4 held for sexual assault on 14-year-old

Thiruchirapalli

Four persons were arrested for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl near Tiruvaiyaru, on Tuesday. Police also arrested a woman for allegedly assaulting the girl.

According to sources, the girl was a school dropout, native of a village near Tiruvaiyaru. She used to accompany her father in bullock cart to take sand from rivers. During such visit, a 16-year-old boy from Kudithangi village sexually assaulted her.

Meanwhile, four persons from another village including M Kannan (29), his brother M Mahendran (35) accused the girl of stealing their mobile phone and reportedly tied her to a tree and assaulted. It is said Kannan also sexually harassed her. The brothers along with S Sivakumar (31), Vidhya (27) wife of Ramesh branded the girl with a hot iron rod. However, the girl escaped. Later, she was admitted to the Tiruvaiyaru GH. Further investigations are on.