COIMBATORE: The seven-yearold girl from Pannimadai in Coimbatore, who was found murdered on Tuesday, had been raped the postmortem report revealed on Wednesday.The report confirmed that the victim underwent penetrative sexual assault, a police officer said. “We are interrogating four people whom parents of the victim mentioned in their complaint,” he said. The Class I student went missing on Monday and her body was found with multiple injuries a few feet from her house. The Coimbatore district police have evoked the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offence (Pocso) Act, 2012.The minor’s rape and murder coming less than a month since the Pollachi sexual assault case sent shock waves has caused widespread anger among members of the public and activists. On Wednesday, more than 500 residents living in and around Pannimadai staged a massive road roko at Thudiyalur seeking justice for the minor girl.“I do not belong to any party and I don’t know the victim. But I am distressed and worried by the incident because I have girl children at home. What happened to the girl was really brutal. It makes me feel Coimbatore has become unsafe for women,” said S Charles, who participated in the protest.During the protest that lasted more than four hours, the protesters demanded that police arrest the accused at the earliest and ensure they are punished severely.H Vyshnavee, a social activist, said punishment for such crimes should be so stringent that people are scared to even think of committing such an act. “A few years ago, Coimbatore was among the top ten cities considered safe for women. Seeing such incidents, the sense of safety women feel has definitely come down. Women who were confident of traveling during night hours are hesitant to do so now,” she added.

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