Kerala man fatally assaults step-daughter, in judicial custody

A 23-year-old man was remanded in judicial custody on Wednesday for allegedly fatally assaulting his five-year-old step-daughter, police said. Alex Pandiyan, a native of Tamil Nadu's Sivakasi, was arrested on Monday from his house near here based on a complaint from the child's mother. Pandiyan, an alleged drug addict, had assaulted the child on Monday, killing her, the police said.

"It seems like he himself informed the mother about the incident. When she came home, the child was lying on the floor, injured. The mother took her to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared her as brought dead," they told PTI.

Police arrested Pandiyan on Monday night but on early Tuesday morning, he escaped from the police station, though handcuffed. After nearly six hours, the police and the locals apprehended him from a nearby locality. A police officer of the Pathanamthitta station, who was in-charge of the station at the time of his escape, was suspended on Wednesday.

Police said the preliminary autopsy report showed that the child was brutally assaulted by the accused and there were injury marks across the body of the child. The child, also a native of Tamil Nadu, was staying with her mother and grandmother at a rented house at Kumbazha. The mother, who was estranged from her husband was in touch with the accused for past one year, police said.

The deceased child has a sibling who is staying with the father of the children in Tamil Nadu.