Tamil Nadu: Leaders React Sharply To Rape-Cum-Murder Of 3-Year-Old
A 19-year-old immigrant worker from Bihar, lured the girl away to secluded spot and then sexually assaulted her on Sunday night: Reports
CHENNAI: Leaders from across the political spectrum in Tamil Nadu expressed shock over the rape-cum-murder of a three-old-girl near Gummudipoondi in Tiruvallur district on Sunday evening and condemned the TVK government for its failure in protecting women and children, whom the party had used during the elections to canvass for its candidates.
Daughter of immigrant workers from Bihar, the child was playing outside her house in Pudupettai near Gummidipoondi when the accused, a 19-year-old immigrant worker from Bihar, lured the girl away to secluded spot and then sexually assaulted her on Sunday night.
The culprit Bipin Manjhi then dumped the injured girl into a bush and tried to escape from the place but was caught by the people. The girl was first admitted to a government hospital in Kottakarai and then shifted to Stanley Medical College Hospital in Chennai where she died on Monday morning. The parents of the victim and also the accused worked in the SIPCOT Industrial Estate.
Demanding the arrest of the real culprits, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Udhayanidhi Stalin, in a statement on Monday, said crimes that had been happening in faraway places were now happening in Tamil Nadu.
The DMK would organize a protest if such incidents continued to happen, he said, adding that the law-and-order situation had deteriorated to such a level that it was being kept in a ventilator, citing a series of recent incidents of crimes against women in the State.
He urged Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay to also concentrate on protecting law and order in the State in the time that he otherwise spent on purchasing members of other parties.
AIADMK general secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami wondered how many more lives of women and children would have to be sacrificed when the TVK government was on its six-month trial period and urged the government to take law and order a bit more seriously.
PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss alleged that rampant drug use was the cause of such crimes and said that more persons were involved in the crime other than the man who had been arrested. But Police said that a case had been registered and the accused arrested. The crime took place within the SIPCOT police station limits, they said.
Reacting to the incident, BJP State president Nainar Nagenthiran asked the TVK government if children should be victims of its negligent rule and former BJP State president and founder of the newly formed ‘We the Leader’ movement said he was shocked by the incident.
Such crimes had become regular in the State in the last few months, he said and wanted the government to collect details of immigrant workers. He also recalled other incidents of sexual assault in recent times in the State.