A 15-year-old girl immolated herself on Wednesday evening after being allegedly raped by her 36-year-old uncle and being blackmailed using a video clip of the act.
The Times of India reported that police are looking for the 36-year-old correspondent of a private school in Chennai.
On Wednesday, she came home from school and saw that her parents were not home. So she locked herself and set herself on fire.
The neighbours heard the screams of the girl and broke the back door and entered the house. They rushed her to Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital where she was declared brought dead.
The New Indian Express reported that the family, despite being aware of the incident, chose to keep quiet for fear of their family reputation getting damaged.
However, her parents found a note in which she held Sarvanan, the school correspondent who is also married to her aunt, responsible for her death and wanted him to be punished. The man has been absconding since the death of the girl.
The parents told police that in September 2016, the girl had visited her aunt’s house and when she was alone with Saravanan, he offered her a soft drink spiked with sedatives. The girl fell unconscious and he raped her and also filmed the act on his mobile phone.
Since then, the man had been showing the girl the video and blackmailing her. A police officer told TOI that he used to keep harassing her and asked her to come home. The officer added that she had attempted suicide in February also. The girl had then told the truth to her parents.
The parents had asked the girl to remain silent and just gave a warning to the accused.
Police said that he used to keep calling the girl at odd times and threatened her that he will spoil her aunt’s life. He warned her that he will put the video on WhatsApp and circulate it among her friends.
(The story was first appeared on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)
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