Idukki (Kerala) | A relative of the man acquitted in the Vandiperiyar rape and murder case on Saturday allegedly atttacked two members of the victim's family, police said.

The father and the grandfather of the minor girl were attacked allegedly by a relative of Arjun, who was earlier acquitted by a local court, at a place near Vandiperiyar town, they said.

"The incident occurred around 11.30 AM. It seems like a close relative of Arjun had used a sharp object to attack the father and grandfather of the deceased child," a police official said.

The accused who escaped after the attack is yet to be nabbed.

A POCSO court had on December 14 acquitted Arjun (24), in the case saying the "prosecution failed to establish all the circumstances which are consistent with the guilt of the accused and inconsistent with his innocence." Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court had on January 4 admitted the state government's appeal against the acquittal in the case.

The six-year-old girl was found hanging inside her house on June 30, 2021 when her parents went out for work in a nearby plantation.

Police had initially registered a case of unnatural death but the autopsy report confirmed that the child was raped before she was hanged.