9-year-old’s brutal murder leaves Puducherry shocked; SIT formed

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to investigate the case of alleged sexual assault and murder of a nine-year-old girl. This came on Thursday (March 7) after Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, Tamilisai Soundararajan, said the day before that the government would constitute a special fast-track court to award punishment in a week to the culprits involved in the case.

The body of the girl, who had gone missing on March 2, was retrieved from a drain near her house in Muthialpet block on Wednesday, police said. Police suspected the girl could have been kidnapped and killed.

Two arrests

Two persons — G Vivekanandan (52) and M Kakka alias Karunaas (19) — have been arrested in connection with the murder. Cases have been registered under different sections of the IPC, including 302 (punishment for murder), a release said.

Police have also registered cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and also under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act read with section 34 of the IPC.

The SIT is headed by Senior Superintendent of Police R Kalaivanan and has the Superintendent of Police (East) Lakshmi Sujanya as the investigating officer. Inspector of Police Ganesh and the Sub Inspector of Police Sivaprakasam would assist the SIT.

The team would work under the overall supervision of the Deputy Inspector General of Police Brijendra Kumar Yadav, the release said.

Lens on drug menace

Speaking to reporters after laying wreaths on the body of the girl at her house, Tamilisai said she was moved by the grief and sorrow of the parents who had lost their child.

“I am of the firm view that the menace of drugs and narcotics should be eradicated totally,” she said, adding that there was information that some persons in Puducherry had a nexus with the drug dealers in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

“We would spare no efforts to bring the two beastly persons to book and also proceed against all those who have been in support of such criminals in Puducherry,” Tamilisai said.

She claimed to have information on those involved in the drug menace and said they have a political background. “All the people backing drug peddlers in Puducherry will be arrested without fear or favour. A close vigil will be maintained on inter-state borders to prevent intrusion of drug mafia into Puducherry,” the Lieutenant Governor said.

Search in vain

Immediately after the girl went missing on March 2, her parents had filed a police complaint after looking for her in various places. Police had launched an extensive search to trace the girl but failed. Her parents, along with residents of Solai Nagar area in Muthialpet, staged a road-roko on Tuesday, demanding better action.

On Wednesday, on receipt of information that a sack was floating in a drain near the girl’s house, police retrieved it and found her body inside. Her hands and legs were tied with ropes.

Police said two suspects have been taken into custody. “We are interrogating the suspects, and will get a clear picture during interrogation,” sources told PTI.

Independent legislator Prakash Kumar presented a memorandum to the Director General of Police seeking steps to arrest those behind the girl’s death. He also wanted CCTV cameras to be installed in various places in Muthialpet.

Rahul Gandhi posts

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also took to social media to express shock and assert that safety and respect for women are the identity of a developed nation.

In a post on X in Hindi, Rahul wrote, “The brutality that happened with a nine-year-old girl in Puducherry has shocked everyone. After all, why are incidents of crimes against daughters continuously increasing in the country?”

In 2022 alone, there were 4.5 lakh incidents of crime against women, out of which 31,000 cases were of rape only, he said.

“Be it Ankita Bhandari’s family sitting on the road in Uttarakhand or the husband who hanged himself along with his children after not getting justice for the incident of misbehaviour with his wife in Madhya Pradesh, or the Spanish tourist who became a victim of gang-rape in Jharkhand, every such incident is a reflection of an insensitive system and a cruel society, which is a matter of introspection for us as a nation,” Rahul posted.

Safety and respect for women is the identity of a “viksit rashtra” (developed nation), he added.

Opposition tears into govt

Opposition DMK leader and convener of the party in Puducherry, R Siva, said that the police’s failure to protect the girl was solely responsible for the offences unleashed against her. He said the party would take out a rally on Thursday to bring to focus the failure of the government and the police machinery in preventing offences against the girl.

Police officials in stations are playing a secondary role to the ministers, he claimed.

“We will seek the resignation of the Home Minister,” Siva said, adding that the DMK has also called for a dawn-to-dusk bandh in Union Territory on Friday.

Blame on tourism

He said that under the garb of tourism, the cultural features of the people were being spoiled. “The functioning of resto-bars holding dances in the night have been causing a disturbance to the peaceful environment of Puducherry,” Siva said.

The PCC president and Lok Sabha MP from Puducherry, V Vaithilingam, told reporters that the girl’s death was proof of the police’s failure to ensure proper functioning of law and order. CPI(M) secretary of Puducherry, R Rajangam, urged the Home Minister of Union Territory A Namassivayam to step down from office as “law and order is in a shambles” and security of young girls has become a question mark.

In a release, Rajangam said that the prevalence of drug menace was not properly handled by the AINRC-BJP coalition ministry. He said that instead of generating jobs for the youth, the government was keeping mum on reopening closed government undertakings like textile mills.

(With agency inputs)