Tamil Nadu

17-year-old Class 12 student who went missing from a village near Kulathur in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi district on Tuesday, March 10, evening was found dead the following day, sparking protests by her family and residents who alleged that police delayed registering their complaint and beginning a search.

According to the family, the girl left her house around 6 pm on Tuesday to relieve herself in a nearby forested area but did not return. When she failed to come back even after an hour, her parents and relatives began searching the surrounding areas.

When they could not locate her, the parents approached the Kulathur police station later that night to file a complaint. However, they were allegedly asked to approach the All Women Police Station (AWPS) in Vilathikulam, about 20 km away.

The family later alleged that officials there did not take their complaint seriously and directed them back to the Kulathur police station.

A missing person case was eventually registered on Wednesday, March 11, nearly 14 hours after the girl was reported missing. Police teams then began searching the area.

Around Wednesday afternoon, villagers spotted a body lying amid thorny bushes roughly 300 metres from the girl's house and alerted the police. Officers reached the spot and confirmed that it was the missing girl.

Police officials said preliminary findings indicate that the girl had a strangulation injury on her neck and scratch marks on her body. Her clothes were intact. Authorities said it would be known after the post-mortem examination whether any sexual assault had taken place.

The body was sent to the Thoothukudi Government Medical College Hospital for autopsy.

Protesters demanded the immediate arrest of those responsible and action against police personnel who allegedly failed to promptly register the complaint.Protesters demanded the immediate arrest of those responsible and action against police personnel who allegedly failed to promptly register the complaint.
They said that if the police had begun searching
immediately after the girl went missing, she might have been rescued.
#thoothukudi #kulathur #girl #pocso