The Tiruchi rural police on Tuesday ruled out rape in the death of a 14-year-old schoolgirl, whose partially charred body was found at Adhavathurpalayam on the city’s outskirts on Monday, even as they were investigating the other angles in the case.
“The death of the girl was due to burn injuries,” the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Tiruchi range, Z. Annie Vijaya, said, citing the findings of the post-mortem examination performed at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital. The body was handed over to the parents in the afternoon and cremated at Adavathurpalayam amid heavy police deployment to prevent any incidents.
Ten special teams were constituted to probe the case and the focus was on how the victim ended up in the condition they found her in, Ms. Annie Vijaya told The Hindu on Tuesday. The Somarasampettai police registered a case under Section 174 (iii) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
After combing the crime scene and its vicinity, investigating teams had recovered a plastic bottle that smelt of kerosene and a match box.
CCTV footage
Nothing concrete could was found in the footage from the CCTV camera installed inside the saw mill behind which the body was discovered, police sources said. Inquiries were being conducted and a couple of persons were also said to have been quizzed by the teams.
Ms. Annie Vijaya said intelligence teams had been tasked with collecting evidence and the crime scene was being recreated. The death was being probed from various angles as there was no direct evidence, she said, adding that all-out efforts were on to crack the case.
A heavy posse of police was deployed at Adavathurpalayam and in its vicinity in the fallout of the incident.
P. Ve. Arun Sakthikumar, Superintendent of Police, Pudukottai, who was investigating the recent death of another minor girl near Aranthangi, was also at the Somarasampettai police station to assist the Tiruchi rural police.
