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A special court for trying violations of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday (September 27, 2025) found a 45-year-old man, Abu, guilty of kidnapping the child of a migrant family of pavement dwellers and sexually exploiting her. The crime occurred on the night of February 19, 2024. The family from Andhra Pradesh had arrived in the city to hawk trinkets and toys to motorists during traffic stops. The family, along with other members of their itinerant trading community, bivouacked at night in makeshift plastic tents pitched on the roadside near the Brahmos complex, adjacent to All Saints College in Pettah police station limits. According to the police, the suspect spirited the child away from her sleeping parents. The family panicked when they discovered the child missing and rushed to the Pettah police for help. The police launched a massive search for the missing juvenile. They inspected footage from surveillance cameras in the neighbourhood, which showed the grainy night-time images of a lanky person walking away from the spot with a child in tow. The search ended on the morning of February 20, when a police team found the child abandoned near a wooded spot adjoining the Brahmos campus. An analysis of the video footage later helped the police pinpoint the suspect. The police subjected the child to a medical examination and recovered the accused’s hair from her dress. Other biological evidence recovered from the victims’ bodies and dress matched the accused person’s DNA, the police told the special court. Forensic experts backed the prosecution’s testimony and submitted test results from nationally accredited forensic laboratories. The prosecution examined 41 witnesses and submitted 11 objects as material evidence. The court will decide the quantum of punishment on Monday (September 29, 2025). Circle Inspector K. Sreejith, Pettah, investigated the case.
