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CHENNAI: A 32-year-old fisherman was arrested on Monday on charges of raping a two-and-a-half-year-old girl at Ennore in Chennai earlier this month. Ranjithkumar took the child into his house on Oct 15 and again on Oct 17, when she was playing outside, and sexually assaulted her, according to police. During a medical examination on Oct 23, doctors suspected that the child had been sexually abused and immediately informed the police. Police booked Ranjithkumar under sections 5 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which deal with aggravated penetrative sexual assault and the punishment prescribed for the offence.
Police sources said he had been living alone after his wife left for her mother’s house following a domestic dispute. The abuse came to light after doctors in a govt hospital, where the child was admitted for suspected injuries, detected signs of sexual assault and alerted police. The suspect, D Ranjithkumar, is a resident of Ennore. As the toddler was too young to explain what had happened, her parents initially assumed that she had sustained injuries. They subsequently admitted her to the Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children in Egmore for treatment. Ranjithkumar has been remanded in judicial custody.
Acting on the hospital’s intimation and a complaint lodged by the child’s mother, the Ennore all women police registered a case on Oct 23 and began an investigation.