Aarthi, a 5th-grade student from Pondicherry, was reported missing on March 2nd after she didn’t return home that evening. Her parents along with Solai Nagar residents in Muthialpet, conducted a road blockade on March 5th, urging the police to take immediate action in locating the girl. A special team was assembled for the search operation by the Pondicherry Police and various CCTV footage were analyzed to find the girl. After 3 days of rigorous search, the police recovered the body of the 9-year-old in a canal near her house in the Muthialpet area of Pondicherry. The body was found in a sack with her hands and legs tied. This caused tension in the neighborhood, with the public revolting against the police for taking the body to the hospital. Following this, additional forces were called to action and Aarthi’s body was taken to Government Medical College Hospital, Kathirgamam. According to reports, the body was then sent to Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research for the post-mortem.
Police suspect that the victim was allegedly raped and the killed by a gang. Police have accused and arrested a gang of 6 including a 19 year old boy and 54 year old man. The 19 year old, identified as Karunas, belonging to the same neighborhood, confessed to the killing. Karunas reportedly took Aarthi to his terrace, where he sexually harassed the child, later joined by the 54 year old Vivekanandan, who also admitted to the crime. This incident caused outrage among the Public and in Social media, with people demanding justice for the child.
