A 15-year-old minor girl, who was robbed by an unknown man at knifepoint and after being assaulted by him at her house, acted bravely and helped police to locate the burglar.
Based on her statement, the police investigated the case and detained the suspect, who was a college student.
The complainant G Raja (41) a resident of the apartment has been running a bakery in the locality and was residing at a flat in a private apartment at Ganga Nagar at Boyampalayam near Anupparpalayam in Tiruppur city with his wife, son and daughter.
The couple, along with their son, used to manage the bakery, and their daughter, aged 15, who studies Class X, was at home for the last few days due to the school holidays.
On December 31, Tuesday afternoon around noon, when the girl was alone at the house, an unknown person with his face covered barged into the house to rob the girl. Sensing the situation she raised alarm.
However, the person assaulted the girl, and in return, the girl also attacked him. Shocking by her response the man gagged the girl and locked her inside a bathroom after robbing her neck chain weighing around one sovereign, at knifepoint.
Then the man managed to escape from the crime scene after looting a two-gram gold coin and Rs 50,000 cash from the house, said police.
Meanwhile, the girl who came out of the bathroom after breaking open the lock from inside alerted her father, who then informed Anupparpalayam police and rushed to the residence.
Simultaneously, the people in the locality started to search and caught the suspect, who was identified as Sudhan (19), a college final-year student from Athiyur near Kunnathur. The public reported him to the police after thrashing him, sources said.
Sources added that he was a regular visitor to another flat in the same apartment. During his visits in the last few days, he noticed the girl was alone at her house and planned for a robbery.
During the investigation, he confessed to the crime.
However, he was admitted to a hospital in Coimbatore as he suffered injuries in the public attack. The minor girl also suffered bone dislocation in her hand and he was treated at a nearby hospital.
Anupparpalayam police booked him under 309 (6) (committing robbery, voluntarily causing hurt) and 311 (Robbery) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act. He has been taking treatment under the police custody, said police sources
