Kodagu: Man kills, flees with severed head of minor girl

Kodagu, NT Bureau: In a horrifying incident, a 34-year-old man brutally beheaded a minor girl and fled with her head after their engagement was stopped by the police, at Mutlu village in Somwarpet taluk on Thursday night.

The accused identified as Prakash had forcibly taken the girl, Meena, 16, along with him from her house before committing the murder at an isolated place.

The deceased was the only girl to pass the SSLC examination from the village According to sources, Meena's family had organised her engagement ceremony with Prakash on Thursday.

However, on getting information on the children’s helpline, the Women and Child Development Department officials, along with the jurisdictional police, visited the village and stopped the ceremony.

They also counselled the girl’s parents that she can marry only after she turns an adult and obtained an undertaking from them.

However, they did not shift the girl to the Nammane and left her with the parents. Angered by this, Prakash barged into the girl’s house on Thursday evening, argued with her parents and dragged her away.

He then took her to the edge of the forest, chopped off her head with a machete and escaped with it, leaving the torso at the spot.

The police and the dog squad visited the village on Friday morning and began a search for other body parts. They are also on the lookout for the attacker and an accomplice of his who was said to be at the spot where the murder took place.

Additional police forces have been deployed in the village for security. "Prakash dragged her for about 150 metres from her house and chopped off her head with a machete. He escaped with the head. Armed guards and additional forces have been deployed in the village and at the hospital. Cases have been booked for murder and under the POCSO Act," Police Superintendent Ramarajan said on Friday.

Meena was the only girl in the village who had passed the SSLC examination this year. It is said that last week, she had told her parents that she was not interested in marriage, but they went ahead with the engagement.

According to locals, Prakash was an unruly person and would often threaten the girl’s family.