According to The News Minute, the CCTV footage showed the man, Moideen Kutty, engaged in sexual acts with the mother while also abusing her daughter the whole time. He was seated between the two of them. It is reported that the incident happened on April 18.
Said to be a wealthy businessman, action against the man had been delayed until a theatre staff had noted down his vehicle’s number and acted upon it. The staff, speaking to TNM, said that the abuse took place during the 7 PM show of a Malayalam film named Mohanlal. After noting down his vehicle number, the staff also looked through Facebook for his profile and was confident that it was the same man. They then handed over everything to a ChildLine.
“I came to the Monitor Desk by 9 pm and saw what looked like a man abusing a child. I magnified the screen and to my horror, my suspicion turned out to be true. The film was in its last 10 minutes when I noticed it,” he said. The theatre staff also mentioned that the reason why they installed cameras in the theatre was so they could catch drunk people and catch others who engage in anti-social activities. They admit that he had not anticipated that such a crime would happen.
As of February this year, it is reported that on an average, one child is abused in Kozhikode district in one way or the other every day. Statistics released by Childline Kozhikode show that 356 children were abused in the district in 2017, which is considerably higher than the corresponding figures in the previous years.
The police have booked the girl’s 35-year-old mother under section 364 (A) of IPC, along with relevant sections of POCSO and Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act. The girl has been shifted to a Nirbhaya home, wherein her statement will be recorded soon.
