Kasaragod: Ambalathara Police in Kasaragod arrested a grassroots CPM leader and the trustee of a Catholic church in two separate cases of sex crimes against children after a pregnant schoolgirl named the two prominent people.
M V Thamban (55), a former CPM branch secretary and current branch committee member, and Saji Thattankoli Thunduparambil (55), the church trustee -- both from Kodom-Belur grama panchayat -- were remanded in judicial custody for 15 days by Hosdurg First Class Judicial Magistrate Court - I on Sunday, October 14.
The case is darker and exposes the collective failure of society to protect children from sex offences. "The issue has been brewing in our village for a month. Saji's wife ousted him from the house. The church dropped him from the trustee's post. Our party (CPM) brought Saji's suspicious behaviour to the girl's father, but he ignored it, saying Saji is his friend," said their panchayat ward member. None of them thought of protecting the girl and reporting Saji to the police.
The case of long years of sexual abuse came to light when on Friday, October 11, the girl, now 16 years old, developed abdomen pain and was taken to a private hospital in Mavungal near Kanhangad by her parents, a manual labourer and homemaker.
The girl informed the hospital that she was 16 years old, and doctors discovered that she was pregnant. Upon hearing this, she disappeared from the hospital. Fearing the worst, her worried parents immediately reported her missing to the police.
Hosdurg Police registered a person missing case and launched a search. By evening, they traced her to her relative's house near Kanhangad. Her statement shocked the police.
Last month, she developed similar abdomen pain and her parents took her to the District Hospital in Kanhangad. According to her statement, Saji, a rubber merchant, also accompanied the family. "He was the one who spoke with the doctors. When doctors expressed doubt that she was pregnant, Saji told them that she was 19 years old," said an officer privy to her statement. She told the police that Saji had been sexually abusing her for the past several months.
She also said that CPM leader Thamban had also sexually assaulted her in 2022 when she was 14 years old. Based on her statement, Hosdurg Police transferred the case to Ambalathara police station.
Ambalathara police detained Saji Friday night itself. Even when the girl was missing, he was at her house. Thamban was taken into custody while he was attending a party meeting on Saturday.
Survivor girl left to fend for herself
According to neighbours and CPM workers, Saji started allegedly abusing the girl around three months ago. He has one daughter, studying in Kannur and two sons, one in the UK and one working as a mechanic. With the money sent by his son, he built a new house recently and moved in there.
But when his wife suspected him of abusing the girl, she confronted him. When he did not stop going to the girl's house, she ousted him from the new house and he returned to his old house, said the ward member. "But he did not stop going to the girl's house," he said. But when the matter came up before the family church committee, they divested Saji from the trustee's position.
A week ago, the panchayat member said he and party leaders alerted the girl's father when they saw Saji taking his daughter around on his motorcycle. "We did not find his interaction with the girl healthy and so told his father. But he dismissed our concerns saying Saji was a good friend of his," said the member.
Party workers said the girl was the daughter from his second marriage. "His first wife and three children moved out years ago and started living with his younger brother, who passed away a few years back," one of them said. They also mentioned that Saji frequently spent money on the girl’s father. Despite all these, the party, too, did not report the girl's precarious situation to the authorities.
Grave charges
Ambalathara Police said they registered two separate FIRs in connection with the matter. They booked CPM leader Thamban for repeatedly raping a girl under 16 years under Section 376 (3) of IPC and Sections 9 & 10, and Sections 3 and 4 (2) of the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
He was also booked for breaking into the house and causing grievous hurt under Section 460 of IPC. If convicted, he could face rigorous imprisonment ranging from 20 years to a life sentence. Soon after his arrest, the CPM's Panathady Area Committee expelled Thamban from the primary membership of the party.
Police booked Saji Thattankoli Thunduparambil, the former church trustee and rubber merchant, for repeatedly raping a child under Section 5 (l) and Section (1) of the POCSO Act, and under Section 64 (2) (m) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
He has also been booked for committing penetrative sexual assault on a child causing impairment and making her pregnant under Section 5 (j) (i) and (ii) of the POCSO Act. If convicted, he could face rigorous imprisonment ranging from 20 years to a life sentence or death sentence.
