The Aluva Judicial First Class Magistrate Court 2 on Friday remanded the accused in the sexual assault of a migrant girl at Keezhmadu in judicial custody.
The police had sought seven days’ custody of the accused, identified as Crystal Raj, 27, of Chengal in Neyyantinkara. The trial will be held in the Pocso court.
The Aluva East police had registered the case invoking relevant sections of the IPC, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
The special team probing the case had taken him to the crime scene for evidence collection after initially putting it off owing to public anger. He may be taken once again to the spot once the police get his custody.
“He [the accused] has 12 cases against him across the State, including a rape case in Parassala. He is suspected to have paedophilic tendencies, especially when on a high on alcohol or drugs. He had seen the victim before and her abduction followed by sexual assault was preplanned and timed in a way when no adult male was present in her house,” said police sources.
It has emerged that the accused had been released from the Viyyur Central Jail only recently in a case registered for theft of a mobile phone and laptop at Perumbavoor. In the instant case as well, he had stolen a mobile phone from the victim’s house.
Meanwhile, reports were making rounds that a similar attempt targeting a girl in Perumbavoor about a week ago was being looked into. No case was registered since there was no complaint. However, now that incident is being revisited to verify whether the same accused was involved in that case as well.
In the instant case, the accused had reportedly managed to sneak into the house by unlocking the front door by extending his hand through the window. The father of the child and his brother had left for Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday late night. Their wives forgot to remove the key from the lock after they got busy taking care of the children. The victim was sleeping in the front room along with her brother from where she was abducted by the accused who locked the door after taking her.
A search team of local residents found her bleeding and took her back home in the early hours of Thursday. It was then the family realised that she had gone missing. The accused was nabbed by the police from near the Marthanda Varma bridge after he jumped into the Periyar to flee the police later on Thursday evening.
