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Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 20 (IANS) A Tamil Nadu native arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a young IT professional at a women’s hostel in Kazhakkoottam near here has been identified as a history-sheeter, police said on Monday.
The arrested Benjamin was identified by the victim. According to Kerala Police, who detained Benjamin from Madurai on Sunday, Benjamin is a lorry driver with a criminal record. Now during interrogation he has confessed to the crime.
He was arrested in Madurai in a coordinated operation by Kerala and Tamil Nadu police.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Friday when the 25-year-old IT woman professional was living alone in her hostel room and sleeping. The accused had reportedly entered the premises with the intention of committing theft. Before targeting the hostel, he burglarized nearby houses.
Inside the hostel, he allegedly gagged the woman, threatened to kill her if she screamed and sexually assaulted her before running away. Shocked, the woman alerted others the next morning and lodged a complaint with the Kazhakkoottam police.
The initial investigation faced challenges as there were no CCTV cameras inside the hostel. Police relied on CCTV footage from nearby areas and monitored vehicular movement to trace the suspect.
According to the police, after committing the crime, the man slept in his lorry for some time and then took his lorry for service early in the morning. He got angry when the service staff asked him to wait as there were other vehicles waiting for servicing. After a heated argument, he left and it was this CCTV footage that led to his arrest in Madurai.
The accused, who went into hiding in Madurai after the attack, resisted arrest but was eventually caught. Police confirmed that he had a history of theft during his trips to Kerala.
A special team comprising officers from three police stations along with the City D-Squad was formed to expedite the investigation. According to the local police, the complaint was received in the early hours of October 17.
Following the incident, the police sent notices to all hostels in and around Technopark to install CCTVs and appoint adequate security cover, especially in women’s hostels, as Kazhakootam is an area where most of the women IT professionals live.
–IANS
SG/SKP