Malappuram: In a disturbing indecent, a man was caught on video sexually abusing a minor girl, believed to be ten years old, and her mother inside a movie theatre at Edappal in the district. Hours after it came to light, police detained the man identified as Moideen Kutty, a locally influential person from Thrithala in Palakkad district. He was picked up from Shornur while approaching an advocate reportedly for anticipatory bail. The police said he had admitted to the crime.
He was later handed over to the police in Changaramkulam where the case was registered. According to the police, he was arrested on various charges under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. The visuals caught by the surveillance camera in the theatre showed Mr Kutty arriving in a luxury car and joining the mother and the girl on the theatre premises. They later seated next to the accused on both sides. The police also took the car into custody. The middle-aged man whose face is clearly visible in the footage started sexually abusing the woman, which seems consensual act, and the bewildered girl.
The act went on for more than two hours. The shocking incident took place on April 18. After finding the visuals, the owner of the theatre approached the district Childline unit with a complaint on April 25. Though the Childline alerted the police immediately no case was registered until the visuals appeared on news channels on Saturday. In a late development, SI K.G. Baby was placed under suspension .
Meanwhile, acting suo motu followed by media reports, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission has ordered a probe into the alleged laxity on the part of police in registering the case and attempts to hush it up. The acting chairperson of the rights panel Mohana Das asked the Malappuram district police chief to submit a report within three weeks.
