P.A. Salim, accused of sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl in Kanhangad of Kasargode district in Kerala, was finally arrested. The 35-year-old resident of Kodagu, Karnataka, was taken into custody by the police from Andhra Pradesh.
Around 3 a.m. on the 15th of this month, the child’s father and grandfather opened the back door to milk the cow. Salim entered the house and abducted the child who was sleeping inside her home. The accused sexually abused the minor, stole her gold earrings, and abandoned the child.
The police clarified that the accused knew precisely where the child was lying and when the grandfather usually went to milk the cow. The perverted paedophile had surveyed the area beforehand.
The incident came to light when the child, abandoned on the road 800 meters from the house, reached the next house and informed the family. Locals found the girl abandoned with eye and neck injuries.
It was initially thought that the accused’s motive was theft. The child was subjected to a medical examination at the Kanhangad district hospital, and it was discovered that she was sexually abused.
The ten-year-old girl stated that the accused was a thin man who spoke Malayalam. She also told the police he wore a lungi, a shirt, and a mask. Hosdurg First Class Judicial Magistrate Angel Rose Jose took the child’s confidential statement.
The police identified Salim after examining footage from 167 CCTVs, but it was not easy for them to catch him. Salim had not used a mobile phone for long, hampering the investigation. He used his mother’s phone in Kodagu and his wife’s mobile in Kerala.
Salim married a woman from the coastal region of Kanhangad 14 years ago and started to live there. He has four children. The police said that Salim was familiar with the victim’s house.
The investigation took a turn when he called his wife at home from someone else’s phone. After learning the accused’s location, the police reached Andhra Pradesh and arrested him.
It is reported that the investigation team will reach Kanhangad with the accused by tonight. Then, the accused will be interrogated in detail under the leadership of senior police officers. It has been found that Salim was previously charged in Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) and extortion cases.
Salim frequently engages in crime but fools everyone into thinking he leads a life of good character. He roams around on a motorcycle and preys on the weak and vulnerable.
There was a POCSO case against him at the Melparamba, Kasaragode police station, registered two years ago. Salim enticed a 14-year-old girl relative on a scooter to a forested area and raped her in the forest of Athur. He was remanded for three months and freed.
There are cases against him for chain snatching in Sullia and Kodagu. Does our judiciary have any checks and balances to prevent such repeat offender paedophiles and criminals from running around so freely?
Salim did not have many friends. For more information, the police recorded the statements of those who had been with him earlier in the jail. They also interrogated Salim’s wife.
The police searched his brothers’ houses in Mysuru, Kannur, Kasaragod, his mother’s house in Kodagu, and his father’s. The investigation team searched for Salim in places like Kodagu, Mandya, Ishwaramangalam, and various areas of Kasaragod district but could not find him.
Salim lived abroad for four years. He returned and worked in hotels in Ernakulam, Bengaluru and Goa, and the police considered the possibility of him entering there. Meanwhile, he called his wife on the phone. With this, the police found him and took him into custody.
