15 persons booked under POCSO Act for sexually assaulting a minor girl in Tiruchi

In a disturbing case that came to light during a routine review of child welfare files, a 15-year-old girl has been allegedly subjected to repeated sexual assaults in Karur and Tiruchi since 2021.

The Srirangam All Women Police Station (AWPS) has registered a First Information Report (FIR) under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, against 15 individuals, including the mother and grandfather of the girl. The FIR, filed on January 7, by inspector M. Selvamalar based on a complaint from P. Rahul Gandhi, District Child Protection Officer, Tiruchi, details allegations of multiple sexual assaults on the 15-year-old minor. The survivor, now residing with her parents in Karur district, was allegedly subjected to sexual assaults in Tiruchi and Karur districts.

According to the FIR, the crime came to light in October 2025 when the Tiruchi Child Welfare Committee (CWC) reviewed quarterly files and identified unresolved allegations. Documents showed that the girl had been sexually assaulted and was even delivered of a baby boy on June 14, 2023, at a private hospital in Tiruchi. The girl’s family took her away leaving the baby in the hospital.

The hospital authorities alerted the police who traced the family. However, when the family members said they were not in a position to take care of the baby, it was handed over to the CWC. Action had not been taken against the alleged perpetrators until the review prompted a letter from the CWC on December 23, 2025, urging investigation.

An inquiry was conducted on January 3 at the District Child Protection Unit office in Tiruchi, where the girl turned up with her mother and grandfather. In the presence of CWC members and a counsellor, the minor recounted the crimes beginning in 2021, when she was in Class 6 and living in Tiruchi.

According to the FIR, during a mid-term vacation of the school, the girl’s grandfather took her to Karur district to help his second wife. While there, she allegedly befriended a man working as a supplier at a hotel. He sexually assaulted her multiple times at her grandfather’s home when she was alone. The girl said she informed her grandmother but action was not taken.

In 2022, when she was studying in Class 7, she was sexually assaulted by an elderly man while her mother was at work. Her grandfather’s brother and his six friends had sexually assaulted her in Tiruchi. The girl alleged that these crimes were committed when she was sent to deliver food.

She was sexually assaulted by her maternal uncle at his home in Tiruchi; by her paternal aunt’s son in Karur; and by a worker during a temple festival in a village in Karur, according to the FIR.

In January 2025, while staying with her mother in Karur, the girl was sexually assaulted in a forest in Uppidamangalam by an acquaintance of her mother working at a fireworks company. The girl informed her mother and grandfather about the crime but they allegedly failed to act.

A case has been registered against 15 persons, including the girl’s mother and her grandfather under the POCSO Act, the Indian Penal Code and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The complaint notes that nearly half the accused are relatives of the victim. Police sources said further investigations were under way, but no arrests have been made so far.

The complaint notes that nearly half the accused are relatives of the victim. Police sources said further investigations were under way, but no arrests have been made so far.