COIMBATORE: The Sulur police in Coimbatore district on Tuesday filed an 819-page chargesheet against two men arrested in connection with the sexual assault and murder of a minor girl here on May 21. The chargesheet was e-filed 18 days after the arrest of the two accused, which is a relatively short period. The investigating team, headed by deputy superintendent of police Karikal Pari Shankar, e-filed the chargesheet, which has 104 prosecution witnesses and 215 documents, before a special court for the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act here. The prime accused, K Karthi, 35, of Pallapalayam near Sulur, has been charged for offences under sections 61(2)(a), 140(1), 140(4), 103(1), 238(a), 127(2), 65(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and 5(i), 5(l), 5(m), 5(j-4) read with 6(1) of the POCSO Act. His aide, R Mohan, 31, of Pallapalayam, has been charged under Sections 61(2)(a), 140(1), 140(4) read with 49, 238(a), 240, 249(a) BNS, 6(1) read with 16 and 17 of POCSO. Karthi abducted the girl on the evening of May 21 by promising to buy her chocolates. He took her to a parcel of private land abutting Kannampalayam tank on a motorcycle and murdered her after sexually assaulting her. The accused were arrested within 24 hours of the incident. Police officials stated that DNA profiling, potency tests and cyber forensic analyses were conducted on Karthi during the investigation. Cyber analyses were also done to confirm Karthi’s communication with Mohan before and after the crime. Though Mohan had knowledge of the crime, he failed to disclose it to anyone and misled the police when officers questioned him.
