On May 22, 2026 evening, there was unusual activity on the banks of the Kannampalayam tank in Sulur, a bustling suburb in Coimbatore district. Police personnel had swarmed the northern bund of the serene tank, a remnant of the Noyyal river system once favoured by birders of Coimbatore.

A thicket in a private land abutting the bund was cordoned off and entry to the bund was barred. Residents soon learned the reason — the police had located the body of a girl reported missing from nearby Pallapalayam.

Arterial road blocked

As search operations for the 10-year-old girl, who went missing on the evening of May 21, came to an end, word soon spread that she had been sexually assaulted. Neighbours and residents of Pallapalayam, who had been frantically searching for her for nearly a day, soon occupied the arterial Tiruchi Road in front of the Sulur police station in protest, bringing traffic to a standstill from 9 p.m. Vehicles were diverted through alternative routes with the crowd swelling with time.

The residents and members of the public, and even social media influencers attached to certain political outfits, raised slogans seeking “justice for the slain girl” and the arrest of the perpetrators. Some persons close to the family accused the police of having given them a false promise earlier in the day that the girl was safe. Some from the irate crowd demanded that the police hand over the culprits to them to serve “instant justice”.

Incidentally, Allatipalli Pavan Kumar Reddy had assumed office as the Coimbatore district’s Superintendent of Police only hours before the girl’s body was found. Hence, senior officers, including Inspector-General of Police (West Zone) R.V. Ramya Bharathi and Deputy IGP (Coimbatore Range) P. Saminathan, stepped in to manage the situation.

Though the police issued an official communication to the media in the early hours of May 23 that two men from Pallapalayam — K. Karthi and R. Mohan — were in their custody for suspected involvement in the crime, the crowd refused to disperse. Ms. Bharathi sat on the road and held talks with the protesting family members and others, who vacated the place around 5 a.m. By morning, the photos of Karthi, 35, and Mohan, 31, began circulating on social media.

Accused part of the search party

Karthi, who had been part of the search party, turned out to be the prime accused after surveillance camera visuals showed him taking the girl on a two-wheeler on the very evening she went missing. Police investigations revealed that Karthi, a loader by occupation, was known to the family of the deceased as he lived in the same neighbourhood.

His friend and accomplice Mohan, who had been residing with his sister in the same area, also knew the girl’s family.

The police said Karthi went to the girl’s house around 5 p.m. on May 21 and lured her out on the promise of buying her chocolates. He took her on his motorcycle to the Kannampalayam tank, where he subjected her to sexual assault in a secluded area abutting the bund. He murdered the girl thereafter and returned to the neighbourhood, where he joined the search for the girl after her father returned from work around 7 p.m.

Ms. Bharathi told journalists that the police responded swiftly after getting a complaint around 8.30 p.m. on May 21. The Sulur police registered a case for the missing girl around 10 p.m.; they formed five special teams under Deputy Superintendent of Police Karikal Pari Shankar to trace the girl. The police examined the visuals of about 250 cameras to zero in on the abductor.

Police sources said Karthi travelled about 2.5 km to the crime scene after picking up the victim from her house on the two-wheeler. He was eventually found hiding on the first floor of an apartment at Kannampalayam on May 22. According to the police, when cornered, he jumped off the building and suffered fractures to his right arm and right leg. During his questioning, the police also learnt of the involvement of Karthi’s friend and accomplice Mohan, a painter.

The accused were arrested under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on the charges of abduction, sexual assault, murder and other offences.

Autopsy confirmed sexual assault

Though sexual assault was suspected from the beginning, the police acted diligently and informed the media only after initial findings of the post-mortem confirmed it. Sources privy to the investigation said that initially, Mohan diverted the attention of the police by stating that he had seen the girl along with a stranger on a scooter on the evening of May 21. The police said he definitely had knowledge of the crime, about which he was tight-lipped, but his role in the crime would have to be investigated.

Investigations revealed that the girl’s family had shifted to a rented house in the neighbourhood at Pallapalayam about a month before the crime. The family had earlier been residing near Podanur. According to a relative of the girl, the family moved to Pallapalayam as it is closer to the workplace of the girl’s father.

“The family planned to get admission in a school in the locality for the coming academic year,” a neighbour said.

The case also saw twists and turns as videos began circulating on social media of a few people alleging that the victim’s mother was drunk and unconscious on the evening of May 21. Speaking to mediapersons on May 24, the girl’s mother claimed that she had become unconscious after having a soft drink, which her husband had mixed with alcohol without her knowledge. She alleged that she was not allowed to see her daughter’s body after the post-mortem as her husband had taken it to his native place in Salem. She also denied that she had been acquainted with Karthi.

Her husband, meanwhile, dismissed her charges and claimed that he does not drink alcohol, denying he had mixed it with the soft drink.

Shock waves across the State

The abduction, sexual assault, and murder of the girl sent shock waves across Tamil Nadu, coming as it did immediately after the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) came to power with C. Joseph Vijay as the Chief Minister. The heinous crime also became a dark spot in the early days of the TVK government as Mr. Vijay had targeted the previous DMK government vehemently during his election campaign over crimes against women and children.

Mr. Vijay, who sent Director-General of Police Sandeep Rai Rathore and Additional DGP (Law and Order) Maheshwar Dayal to Coimbatore after the crime, said the murder had caused immense pain and shock.

“Such inhuman and unforgivable criminal acts can never be accepted in our society. I share the grief of the family and relatives of the young girl who are suffering from the loss of their beloved child,” said the Chief Minister, adding that the chargesheet would be filed at the earliest after a swift and thorough investigation.

Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin alleged that 30 major incidents of crime, including the murder of the girl, were reported within 12 days of Mr. Vijay assuming office, casting serious doubts about the State’s law and order situation. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami accused the government of not taking swift action after receiving a complaint about the girl’s disappearance.

Minister for Backward Classes Welfare V. Sampath Kumar, who is from Coimbatore, said the government was committed to securing the maximum punishment for the accused.

Controversy at press meet

Despite the arrest of the accused within 24 hours, the IG, the DIG and the SP landed in a controversy as cameras captured them having a light moment before the press conference. The officers had asked photojournalists, who had come in advance for the briefing, to keep the cameras on standby and not in record mode. However, muted videos of the officers having a light moment were circulated by a few television channels and news agencies.

The officers drew widespread criticism, with social media users accusing them of being insensitive and lacking empathy.

Brushing aside the row, Ms. Bharathi said the police had acted swiftly and arrested the perpetrators. She told The Hindu that the investigating team was determined to file the chargesheet within 30 days, with foolproof evidence to get the maximum sentence. The Collector invoked provisions of the Goondas Act against the two accused on May 27.

The murder rekindled safety concerns over tanks of the Noyyal river system in Coimbatore, which largely remain deserted without patrol and surveillance. Achankulam, another large tank at Muthugounden Pudur, had witnessed the murder of a 41-year-old man four days before the girl’s murder.

The two recent murders have highlighted the fact that anti-social elements are misusing these urban wetlands for crimes, posing a threat to peace and tranquillity in surrounding areas. The district police have stepped up patrols in such locations after the girl’s murder.