CHENNAI: In the seaside village of Vadapattinam, 85km south of Chennai, education eludes most of its 3,000-odd residents consisting of fishermen, farmers and Irulas, a community of snake-catchers. There is one primary school, a dilapidated structure built in 1956 where 92 students are currently enrolled. To study further, one must walk six km to the nearest higher secondary school in Koovathur.

Idling by the sea or the small Vanchi lake is an attractive proposition for many children in the village, who often pick up harmful habits such as smoking, chewing tobacco and alcohol at a shockingly young age. Among them was a boy called Kandan (name changed), only 11 years old but known to consume. He had dropped out of school and had no parents to check him; they had died long ago and he was being brought up by his grandparents. Last Sunday, he became the villain of the village, bringing home the dangerous effect that years of social neglect can cause to a community.

Around 11 in the morning, Kandan took a seven-year-old girl, studying in Class 2, to a neem tree by the lake and tried to rape her. To make sure she did not scream, he forcefully held a piece of cloth over her mouth. As a result, the girl died of suffocation. The boy was said to be under the influence of alcholol.

When he realised that the girl was dead, Kandan picked up a thorn and poked her right leg at four places to make it look like a snake bite. Both boy and girl belong to the Irula community, which traditionally caught snakes for a living but now, since snake-catching is illegal, have taken to cutting wood.

However, doubts about his claim arose once the girl's parents found injuries on her private parts. But they decided not to raise the issue and buried the girl instead. On Monday, however, they changed their mind and lodged a complaint with the Koovathur police. Police, while visiting the spot, found a few teeth of the girl under the tree. They questioned Kandan, who eventually confessed to the crime. On Wednesday, the body of the girl was exhumed for post-mortem. Pending the report, Kandan will remain locked up in the police station.

"I left for work on Sunday around 8am. My wife took the three children to church. But since she had to cook, she came back home along with our youngest daughter. She had stepped out to the nearby forest to gather wood when that boy came home," recalled Kannaiyah, the girl's father, who is a woodcutter.

Kandan's grandfather Mani, who is also a woodcutter, said: "We don't have any sympathy towards him. He has not only tarnished our name but also that of the village."

Villagers, meanwhile, are in a state of shock. "Children who go to school regularly are unlikey to do such a thing. Access to education can prevent such crimes," said S Anathalakshmi, who has been giving vocational training to women in the village since1994.

"The incident has shaken us. We need to inculcate values in our children. We must also ensure that children do not miss classes. For long, we have been demanding upgrading of the school but it hasn't happened so far," said Vadapattinam panchayat president M Kannammal.