Minor girls arrested for murder of neighbour who assaulted their mother

Kozhikode police have detained two minor girls aged 15 and 16 from Ayiramkolly, on charges of hacking their relative to death. The assault was precipitated by the deceased's alleged attempt to sexually assault the mother of the girls, police reports said. The deceased has been identified as Muhammed Koya, who is the husband of the girls' paternal aunt.

Police recovered the body of Muhammed Koya from a well in a plot near where he lived. A part of his right leg which has been hacked off was recovered from a waste-disposal plant around 3 km away.

The mother of the two girls has also been arrested and an FIR under IPC section 302 (murder) has been filed in the case. The girls and their mother surrendered before Ambalavayal police in the afternoon. They were staying in a shed near the house of the deceased. Koya, who has two children, was killed at 11 AM on Tuesday after his wife had gone to Kozhikode, official sources said.

The women allege that the 70 year-old man, who was their neighbour, had entered their living quarters and attempted to assault the mother of the girls. When the daughters attempted to resist, he paid no heed, whereupon they seized a weapon and hacked him to death, their statement said.

Following this, they attempted to dispose of the body by wrapping it in a sack and dumping it in the plot adjacent to where they were living. The police have registered an FIR against the three of them based on a complaint from Koya's family.

"Neighbours said that girls had been facing problems from Muhammad and they might have committed the crime after suffering for a long time," The New Indian Express quoted Ambalavayal panchayat president as saying.