Stepfather held for harassing girl

A person named Rajan has been taken into custody by the police on charges of molesting a 14-year-old tribal girl. Police said that he was the stepfather of the girl.


 Rajan, 45, hailing from the tribal colony of  Podiyakkala, Peppara, near here, was taken into custody by the Palode police for allegedly molesting the girl over the past  six months. According to the police, the incident came to light when the girl, a 10th standard student of Meenankal Tribal School, opened up before one of her teachers.


 “The mother of the girl was bedridden after she suffered burns a year ago. It was after that, that the behaviour of the person towards the girl changed. He took advantage of the poor financial condition of the house. The girl was afraid to talk about the harassment to anybody as she feared that her family would be starved if she complained about her stepfather,” said Pradeep Kumar V S, Circle Inspector of Police, Palode.


 It was to the school teacher, who had developed some doubts about the girl’s behaviour, that the latter spoke about the incident two days ago. The girl was reluctant to attend school for the past two months.