Minor held for ‘attempt to rape’ in Kerala: Cops

MALAPPURAM: Police on Tuesday apprehended a 15-year old Class 10 student who allegedly attempted to rape a 21-year old woman on Monday at Kondotty here, police said on Tuesday.

Malappuram SP Sujith Das, speaking to the media after apprehending the class 10 student, said that the boy has no criminal antecedents and according to the victim had never troubled her before.

When the boy fled the scene of the crime, after the victim escaped his clutches, and reached home with his clothes dirty and scratches on his arms and lips, he told his family that he was chased by a dog and had fallen down, the officer said.

However, when the police reached his home and questioned him, he confessed that he received the injuries while assaulting the 21-year-old woman, the officer said.

According to the police, he had followed the victim for some distance before attacking her close to a banana plantation. The accused had hit her on the head with a stone, tied her arms and pressed down on her neck very hard to subdue her, the police said and added that the victim who fought back was lucky to escape with her life.

The officer also said that they were looking into the accused’s online activity to ascertain what prompted him to commit the crime as he has no criminal antecedents and was a district level judo champion.

A formal arrest would be made soon after finding out some more details, the officer told the media.