KOCHI: The city police on Friday arrested a person for allegedly sexually abusing his minor niece and recording videos of the assault at Perumbavoor. The incident came to light after the accused, a native of Thandekkad, Vengola, near Perumbavoor, was intercepted by police with ganja at Vettikkattukunnu on Thursday afternoon.

During the search, officers recovered 115 grams of ganja from the possession of the 33-year-old. He was taken into custody under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and brought to the Perumbavoor police station for further questioning.

During the investigation, police examined the man’s mobile phone and discovered several videos showing him sexually abusing a young girl. Upon interrogation, the accused confessed that the victim was his five-year-old niece.

According to officials, the abuse had occurred multiple times while the accused was staying with the victim’s family, until around six months ago. . The girl’s parents told police they were unaware of the abuse.

A police officer said, “We have first recorded the arrest of the accused under the NDPS Act for illegal possession of ganja. Later on, based on the complaint of the victim’s parents, we have registered a case and arrested the accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The accused is a drug addict. He was into drug peddling activities for the past several years. He was also involved in several criminal cases. The statement of the victim has to be recorded. We will send the mobile phone for forensic examination to retrieve other deleted videos. It has to be checked whether the accused passed these videos to any other person. A detailed probe is launched into the incident. We will approach the court seeking the custody of the accused as part of further investigation.”