11-year-old girl abducted by relatives, rescued

COIMBATORE: A eleven-year-old girl, who was kidnapped by a couple over a financial dispute with her parents, was rescued by police in Namakkal on Monday.

As the police stepped up the investigation, the accused couple, Manikandan and his wife Ponnumani abandoned the girl near a petrol bunk after threatening her not to reveal their identity.

Police said Kausalya, 29, her daughter and son were fast asleep on the terrace of their rented house at Kalichettipatti village near Erumapatti. Kausalya’s husband Saravanan, 39, a lorry driver was away for the past two months for work. Early on Sunday morning, two masked people abducted the girl at knifepoint. The culprits also snatched the woman’s gold chain, silver anklet and left the spot after tying up the mother and son with a rope. Later, Kausalya managed to relieve herself and called neighbours for help.

Meanwhile, the abductors who took away the SIM card from Kausalya’s mobile phone, called her house owner Murugesan using the SIM card and demanded a ransom of Rs 50 lakh to release the girl.

On receiving a complaint, a special team was formed under the supervision of Superintendent of Police E Sai Saran Tejaswi to track down the culprits and the girl who was left in a car near Alanganatham locality was rescued.

Based on the information given by the girl, the police nabbed the couple. Inquiries revealed that the couple were relatives of the girl, and they had some financial dispute with her parents. Hence, they had abducted her to their house. Police suspect a few more people to be involved in the offence and further inquiries are on.