Guwahati: Police in Assam’s Dhemaji district have arrested a 51-year-old man on charges of attempting to rape the body of a minor (14) a day after she had died in suspicious circumstances and was buried by her family members.
Fellow villagers caught the accused, Akan Saikia, in the act on May 18.
“The girl died under suspicious circumstances on May 17 and was buried the same night by her family members near the Simen river, which flows close to the village. Few villagers were also present,” said Dhananjay Ghanawat, superintendent of police (SP), Dhemaji.
On the afternoon of May 18, some fishermen noticed the accused trying to rape the body of the girl. The accused had allegedly dug up the grave and taken out the body. He was nabbed and handed over to the police.
“The accused doesn’t appear to be mentally deranged but is a psychopath. He’s a history-sheeter as well,” said Ghanawat.
The accused had married twice and in 2018 one of his wives had accused him of domestic violence. He was convicted and was serving his sentence in Dhemaji jail. But he was released on parole in end-March following a Supreme Court order to decongest jails due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.
“The accused appears to be promiscuous. Some have alleged that he might have sexually harassed the minor that led her to commit suicide,” Ghanawat said.
The police have exhumed the body, which was reburied by the villagers, and sent it for post-mortem examination and the result is pending.
“The accused has confessed to his crime in judicial custody,” the SP added.
Saikia has been booked under Sections 306 and 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for abetment of suicide and unnatural sex and also under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.