Kerala: 70-year-old woman raped during robbery bid, accused threw chilly powder at her

The old woman was raped after the accused threw chilly powder on her during an attempted robbery.

HT, Aug 26, 2024: In yet another shocking incident of crime against women, a 70-year-old woman was allegedly raped in Kerala's Alappuzha district during an attempted robbery at her house on Saturday night.

The police have arrested a 29-year-old man from Kanakakunnu named Dhanesh in connection with the crime. He is alleged to have stolen around seven sovereigns of gold from the elderly woman and was caught while trying to sell the ornaments.

The accused is believed to have targeted the old woman after knowing that she was living alone. According to police, the victim was raped after the accused threw chilly powder and threw the old lady off balance.

"He left after locking the door from outside. He also took her mobile phone. She was unable to contact others. The neighbours found her this morning and took her to the hospital and informed us," police said.

A case has been registered against him under relevant sections of the law, police said, adding that further investigation into the case is underway.

The Left government in Kerala is under increasing pressure to act on the findings of widespread sexual abuse in the Malayalam film industry by the Justice Hema committee's report.

On Saturday, the LDF government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by team of women IPS officers to probe widespread accusations of sexual abuse that have surfaced in mainstream and social media. The government had to back down from its earlier position that the lack of a specific complaint was holding back prosecution.

Actor Siddique quit as the general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) following allegations of sexual assault by a young female actor, while Kerala State Chalachitra Academy Chairperson Ranjith submitted his resignation after Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra accused him of inappropriate behaviour during a project discussion.