Kerala police have arrested a rape accused in Chennai after 24 years. The man was accused of sexually assaulting a minor Dalit girl in 2001. Police are investigating the case further.
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala police have arrested a rape accused who was absconding in Chennai after 24 years. This Kerala man was accused of sexually assaulting a minor Dalit girl in 2001. The accused has been identified as 50-year-old Muthukumar, who converted to Christianity and was living in Chennai under the alias Pastor Sam. Police arrested the accused on Wednesday.
The accused worked as a tutor.
According to Thiruvananthapuram police, Muthukumar was arrested in 2001 for raping a 14-year-old schoolgirl. At that time, the accused was working as a tutor. Police say he took the Dalit girl to his home and sexually assaulted her. He was subsequently arrested and sent to judicial custody for three months. He escaped after being released on bail in 2001. A police officer stated that this was one of the longest-pending cases. The police officer stated that the police had intensified their search for him over the past year. He further stated that he may have converted to another religion to hide. The police officer stated that he had neither purchased a mobile connection nor opened a bank account.
Mother and brother traced during police investigation
After being implicated in the rape case, Muthukumar was asked to vacate his rented house. He lived in the rented house with his mother. After being released on bail, he moved to Nagercoil. He then moved to Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu. The police officer stated that during the investigation, police traced his mother and brother in Tenkasi. The police officer further stated that when they checked the family’s mobile phone call details, they discovered that calls from certain numbers had stopped after the police arrived. The officer further stated that funds had also suddenly stopped flowing into their accounts from some accounts.
Police are investigating further.
With the help of the cyber cell, the police discovered that the same mobile device was operating with two different SIM cards. Further investigation revealed that the mobile phone was being used by a woman in Chennai, who turned out to be the accused’s wife. Police stated that the court would be informed of the accused’s arrest.
Authored by: NBT Desk
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