The police on Wednesday arrested a youth under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012 on charges of sexually assaulting a minor girl in the district.
According to the police, Sijo George,23, who was the coordinator of the Kerala Catholic Youth Movement under the Mananthavadi diocese, had allegedly molested a 16-year-old girl .
As a the coordinator of the movement, the accused sexually assaulted the girl who was brilliant in studies and she became pregnant, the police said. Sijo resigned from the post on March 3 after the vicar of of his parish directed him to resign when the inciden came to light, the police added.
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The girl gave birth to a child at a private hospital in Kozhikode on December 28. Later the baby was shifted to an adoption centre under a church in Kozhikode district promising her family that the youth would marry the girl when she turned 18 years.
However, the police arrested the accused while he was trying to commit suicide after his family objected the marriage, the police said. The accused was arrested under various sections of the POCSO and Juvenile Justice Act, the police added.