On Thursday Hundreds of people joined the funeral procession of a 9 – year old girl who was allegedly sexually assault and murdered in Pondicherry. She was a class 5 student, went missing on Saturday evening was found on Wednesday inside a sack dumped in a drain, the police reported.
Her hands and legs were tied by rope, they added. Police said a case of murder and sexual assault has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the SC/ST Act.
Two men including a 19- years old has been arrested and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to investigate the case. Locals who has been protesting against the police inaction in the case alleged the two arrested men as drug addicts.
The parents of the girl has filed a complaint after she went missing on 2nd March and police launched a search operation to trace her. Her body was rescued from a sack in a drain near her house and was sent for postmortem.
Pondicherry Chief minister N.Ramgaswamy and Lieutanent Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan visited the family of the girl and announced 20 lakhs rupees as compensation.
Ms Soundararajan stated that the case would be tried by the special fast track court. “The Government will ensure that the culprits gets maximum punishment . A fast track court will be set up immediately. The family members of the victim said that the culprits should be given the death penalty. We can’t take the laws into our hands but emotionally I am on their side.” She said.
On Wednesday members of various organisations took to the streets condemning the horrendous crime and blocked the chief minister’s car demanding the action in the case. The opposite INDIA bloc and AIADMK has called for a bandh tomorrow to mount pressure on the pondicherry government.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the brutal crime has shocked the nation ” Be it Ankita Bhandari’s family sitting on the road of Uttrakhand or the husband who hanged himself along with their children after not getting justice for the misbehaviour to his wife in Madhya Pradesh or a Spanish tourist who became a victim of gang rape in Jharkhand , every such incident is a reflection of insensitive system and a cruel society, which is a matter of introspection for us as Nation”. He posted on X.