Life imprisonment for Assam man accused in Arambakkam child rape case

In record time, a special court for POCSO cases in Tiruvallur district on Thursday pronounced its judgment in the case relating to the abduction and rape of an eight-year-old girl in Arambakkam in the district, and sentenced the lone accused, Kale Biswakarma, 35, a native of Assam, to undergo imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life. On July 12 this year, Arambakkam police received an information that the survivor was sexually assaulted by a person allegedly belonging to another State. The incident occurred in the afternoon when the girl was returning from school to her grandmother’s residence. The investigation revealed that Kale was stalking the survivor, abducted her to a nearby mango grove and committed penetrative sexual assault on her. The incident was partially recorded by a CCTV camera installed at a nearby shop. The incident sparked public outrage and protests from several political parties. Police teams were formed from various districts of the North Zone under the overall supervision of Tiruvallur Superintendent of Police Vivekananda Shukla. Apart from the partial CCTV footage and a verbal description of the accused by the survivor, the police did not have any other reliable information regarding the identity of the accused. Initial investigation indicated that the accused might belong to another State. A dedicated team was deployed to camp in areas having settlements of migrants from other States. A core technical team was also formed to analyse various types of data intensively. Another team was tasked to continuously check trains and collect information on suspects who could commit such an offence. The teams patrolled major railway stations in Tamil Nadu and the neighboring States for almost two weeks. One of the cameras captured a blurred image of the suspect travelling in a local train, originating from Sullurupeta and moving to Chennai. Using AI tools, an artificial image of the accused was generated based on the available information and disseminated across various print/visual media and social media platforms. Given the seriousness of the crime, a cash reward of ₹5 lakh was also announced by the State government for individuals providing valid and credible information about the accused. On the evening of July 25, a suspect was located at Sullurupeta Railway Station in Andhra Pradesh. On verification, he was confirmed as the accused Kale Biswakarma. A native of Dibrugarh district in Assam, he had been working at a Dhaba in Sullurupeta, Andhra Pradesh, for more than 10 years. Investigation revealed that he regularly travelled on local trains from Sullurupeta to Chennai. On the day of the offence, during a similar journey, he disembarked from the train at a secluded location near Arambakkam Railway Station. Upon identifying the girl, he stalked her, abducted her and committed the sexual assault. He subsequently fled to Sullurupeta, the police said in the chargesheet. Finally, he was arrested on July 27. Inspector General of Police, North, Asra Garg said, “Meticulous efforts to first detect the case followed by a very thorough investigation, using the latest technology, eSakshya, forensic analysis,...

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