Alappuzha (Kerala), Sep 2 The police arrested a 27-year-old woman and mother of two from Karnataka after allegedly eloping with a 17-year-old male student from Alappuzha about two weeks ago, police said on Tuesday.
According to the police, the woman has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after the arrest.
She was arrested in Karnataka’s Kollur, about 600 km from Alappuzha, after she allegedly eloped with the boy, along with her two children, 12 days ago from their native place in Pallippuram near Cherthala in the district.
The boy’s parents had lodged a missing person complaint with the Cherthala police after the boy did not return home.
During interrogation, the woman said she wished to live with the boy and had eloped with him, taking her children and leaving her husband behind. The woman avoided using her mobile phone, which made it difficult for the police to trace her.
Acting on information that they might have gone to Bengaluru, the police searched several locations there but in vain. The police finally managed to trace them after the woman sent a WhatsApp message from Kollur to a relative in Alappuzha two days ago.
The police said that the woman allegedly forced the minor boy to elope with her.
The police brought them to Alappuzha on Monday, and the woman was remanded in judicial custody in Kottarakkara jail in the neighbouring Kollam district after producing her in the First Class Magistrate Court (1) in Cherthala, said the police.
The police said the boy was handed over to his parents after they were brought to Alappuzha on Monday. The police are yet to clarify whether the boy was sexually abused during their stay in Kollur.
It is also not yet confirmed how long the affair had been going on, with the police stating that the circumstances under which it began still remain under investigation.
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