The residents and relatives of an 11-year-old girl of Kalyana Periyanguppam village in Katpadi taluk, who was murdered on Monday by a boy of her school, blocked the Katpadi-Gudiyatham Road at K.V. Kuppam on Wednesday. They wanted the Collector and the K.V. Kuppam MLA to visit the family and payment of compensation.
The girl, a Std. VI student of the Government Higher Secondary School at Machanur, went to school on Monday morning, but did not return home till late at night.
On Tuesday, her parents lodged a complaint with the K.V. Kuppam police. The body was found in a bush at Kalyana Periyanguppam in the morning. At the end off post-mortem at the Government Vellore Medical College Hospital at Adukkamparai, the relatives refused to receive the body, insisting on the immediate arrest of the accused. Members of the All India Democratic Women’s Organisation staged a protest on the hospital premises, backing their demands.
The agitators received the body on Wednesday afternoon, after officials met them and Saranraj, 15, a Std. X student, was arrested. The boy was brought to K.V. Kuppam from Hosur, where he was hiding, and produced before the Judicial Magistrate, Katpadi.
Vellore Collector R. Nanthagopal and District Revenue Officer K. Manivannan held talks with the public and the family. K.V. Kuppam MLA C.K. Thamizharasan also visited the spot.
The Collector said he arranged for payment of funeral expenses, one of the demands of the family. He also recommended that the government give the family compensation from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. After his assurances, the agitators dispersed. The body was buried with police security at Kalyana Periyanguppam in the evening.
Meanwhile, the Superintendent of Police said in a release that the boy told the police that he accosted the girl while she was returning home. He took her to a secluded spot and tried to molest her. After she threatened to inform her parents, he strangled her with her dhupatta and tied her legs and hands with her ribbon and inflicted injuries on the body. After she died, he took away her anklets and bicycle. He told the police that he got the idea from blue films he had seen on the cell phones and laptops of his friends.
The police seized the bicycle and the anklets.
Solatium announced
Special Correspondent reports from Chennai:
Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Wednesday directed Director-General of Police Ashok Kumar to expedite the inquiry into the murder.
He conveyed his condolences to the family and announced Rs. 3 lakh in solatium, said an official release.
