Man Held for Rape and Assault of Elderly Woman in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: A 20-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping and assaulting an 85-year-old woman and abandoning her on the roadside in this district, police said on Saturday. The incident took place under Venjaramoodu police station limit on Wednesday evening. Agin, a lottery agent, was apprehended on Friday, they said.

According to police, the accused took the elderly woman into a deserted building, where he raped her and brutally beat her with a stick before abandoning her on the roadside. Locals found her with severe head and facial injuries and rushed her to a nearby hospital. She was later shifted to the Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College. While the injuries initially suggested she had been violently assaulted, a detailed medical examination confirmed that she had also been raped.

Based on the statement of the woman and some local vendors in the area, the police identified the accused and nabbed him later. "As per the statement of his family, he is suspected of having a mental disorder and the habit of committing such assaults following an accident. An investigation is on," a police officer said.

He was remanded to judicial custody by a local court and the woman was discharged from hospital, police added.