A 49-year-old man was arrested by the Kerala police on Sunday, March 3 for abducting a toddler and trying to sexually abuse her in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. City Police Commissioner Nagaraju said the accused, Hasan Kutty, has been booked under criminal cases, including one under Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

According to reports, the parents of the two-year-old child, who was abducted on February 18 night from the premises of All Saints’ College in Petta, hail from Bihar. The family, who resides on the roadside, noticed that the child was missing around 1 am. They approached the police at around 2 30 am when they could not find their missing child.

The police then formed five squads and started investigations across the district. Later on February 19, after 19 hours since the child went missing, the police found her abandoned in a drain near the Kochuveli railway station. On February 22, the child’s blood samples were collected for DNA testing and results are awaited.

According to the police, Hasan Kutty tried to sexually abuse her. When the girl started crying, Hasan covered her mouth, and later abandoned her thinking that she was dead, they added. The police further said that the accused was released from Kollam Jail on January 12, 2024 in a POCSO case registered at Ayiroor police station in 2022.

Hasan Kutty was booked under 354 (whoever assaults or uses criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage), 307(attempt to murder) , 363 (offense of kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), section 7 to 10 of POCSO Act (sexual assault, harassment, penetrative assault and aggravated forms of assault against children), and 84 of Juvenile Justice Act (kidnapping and abduction of child).