Kerala minor girl molested inside cinema hall by businessman in Malappuram; accused arrested

Malappuram: A businessman was taken into custody on Saturday for allegedly molesting a minor girl inside a cinema hall in the district, police said. The incident took place at a theatre in Edapal on 18 April, they said. Moideen Kutty was taken into custody from Shornur and brought to a police station in Changaramkulam for questioning after visuals of the incident, captured on CCTV in the theatre, were aired by a television channel on Saturday. [caption id=“attachment_4432631” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Kerala police. AFP[/caption] The CCTV footage was handed over to police by childline authorities on 28 April. Moideen Kutty was also accompanied by a woman to the theatre, police said. Meanwhile, Health and Social Justice minister K K Shylaja said if police had failed to act despite receiving a complaint, it was a ‘grave lapse’ and action would be taken. Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala, demanded action against the ’erring’ police personnel and said it was unfortunate that they had ‘failed’ to act, despite receiving the complaint on 28 April. The state Human Rights Commission also demanded action against the police personnel concerned. It demanded that the Malappuram district police chief probe the incident and file a report within three weeks. In another incident, police at Payannur registered a case under the POCSO Act against a man, who allegedly tried to molest a nine-year-old girl belonging to the nomadic community on 10 May. The girl was sleeping along with her parents near a stadium at Payyanur in Kannur district when the man abducted her, police said. However, the girl raised an alarm and her parents woke up, following which the man left her and fled the spot.