One held for sexual assault of minor girl in TN

A 34-year-old man was taken into custody Sunday on charges of sexually assaulting and murdering a minor girl in Pannimadai on the city outskirts, police said.

The accused, Santhosh, a resident of Thondamuthur had confessed to sexually assaulting the 7-year-old girl, living close to his grandmother's house in Pannimadai, before strangling her to death six days ago, they said.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the crime was committed by the accused at his grandmother's house.

It is said that Santhosh's grandmother also died when the girl's death was reported and investigations were on to ascertain whether the accused had a role in it.

The girl, who went missing on March 24, was found dead near her house the following day, with her limbs tied.

The postmortem report revealed that the girl was subjected to sexual assault more than once.