Overview
- Police registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act after a 16-year-old disclosed a months-old allegation during a counselling session and her parents filed a complaint.
- Officials identified the accused as 25-year-old Sneha Merlin of Pulliparamba in Kannur and said she regularly visited the victim's home as a friend of the girl's mother.
- Police told reporters that Merlin's arrest will be recorded soon as investigators pursue the newly filed allegation.
- Authorities say Merlin is already linked to three other POCSO cases registered at the Taliparamba police station, including an alleged assault reported from March 2025 and two earlier complaints naming minor boys.
- Investigators are probing Merlin's background and other alleged offences, while the legal process continues under child-sensitive POCSO procedures and the identities of minors are being withheld.