A man accused of raping a minor girl 25 years ago was finally arrested in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram after evading the police for over two decades. The accused, identified as Muthukumar, a native of Neeramankara, was produced before the court on Thursday, which remanded him to judicial custody.
According to the police, Muthukumar, who worked as a tuition teacher at the time of the crime, had allegedly called a schoolgirl to his residence and sexually assaulted her.
“He was initially arrested and released on bail but later went absconding, successfully evading arrest for 25 years. Muthukumar had converted to Christianity, adopted the name ‘Sam’, and worked as a pastor in Chennai’s Ayanavaram area. During his years in hiding, he married twice and maintained limited contact with his family. To avoid detection, he refrained from using personal mobile phones or bank accounts, instead relying on public phone booths and depositing cash directly into relatives’ accounts through cash deposit machines,” said a police officer.
A senior official from Vanchiyoor Police Station stated that Muthukumar’s tactics made it extremely difficult for the police to trace him. However, his cover was blown recently when the Vanchiyoor police, during a review of long-pending cases, placed around 150 phone numbers and 30 bank accounts of his close contacts under surveillance. One suspicious number eventually led investigators to make the breakthrough.
A special team led by Station House Officer (SHO) Shanif H.F. tracked Muthukumar down and arrested him on Wednesday. The accused was then brought back to Thiruvananthapuram, where he was produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.
Police officials said the arrest highlights their continued efforts to bring long-evading offenders to justice, no matter how long it takes.
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