Overview

• The special POCSO court found a middle-aged man guilty on Saturday in the February 2024 case involving a child from a migrant pavement-dwelling family.
• Media accounts identify the convict as either Abu, 45, or Hasan Kutty, also known as Kabeer, 46, with sentencing reported as scheduled for either September 29 or October 3.
• Police said the child was taken from a roadside tent near Chakka on February 19, 2024, and was found unconscious the next evening near the BrahMos campus/railway track before being hospitalized.
• Investigators reviewed footage from more than 100 CCTV cameras, traced the suspect’s bus travel through multiple cities and an attempt to alter appearance, and arrested him about two weeks later in Kollam.
• Forensic experts told the court that biological material and hair recovered from the victim and her clothing matched the accused, and the evidence-heavy trial examined 41 witnesses with nationally accredited lab results on record.