Man held for abusing live-in partner's minor daughters; girl’s note to friend exposes crime

Kochi: The Kuruppampady police near Perumbavoor have arrested a man for allegedly sexually abusing two minor daughters of his live-in partner. The arrested man is a taxi driver from Ayyampuzha near Angamaly. He has been abusing the girls, aged 12 and 10, since 2023, the police said. 

He was arrested from near his house at Ayyampuzha on Wednesday night and charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The man has been in a relationship with the woman since her husband died two years ago. He used to visit the girls’ mother during weekends at her rented house in Kuruppampady and was identified by local people as her second husband. 

The incident came to light when the elder girl’s school teachers got hints about it from a note she wrote to one of her classmates. 

“The man found photos of the girl’s classmates on WhatsApp contacts on her mother’s phone. He wanted the girl to invite some of them to her house. The girl conveyed the same to one of her classmates, the daughter of a teacher in the school, in a note. The teacher came to know about the note and found out about the abuse she was enduring. The teacher interacted with the survivor girl and confirmed the matter. The school authorities, in turn, alerted the police,” Shakti Singh Arya, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Perumbavoor, told media on Thursday.

The elder girl told the teacher about her sister's plight, too.

The accused told the police that he abused the girls to end the relationship with their mother. The police are yet to ascertain if the mother knew about the abuse of her daughters.