A saleswoman at a textile shop in Payyannur was injured as she jumped out of an autorikshaw to escape sexual assault by a fellow passenger on Sunday evening.
The police said they filed cases against the auto driver and the co-passenger, but the two were absconding.
According to the complaint, the auto driver who belonged to the woman’s area offered to drop her while she was returning home after completing her duty at the shop around 6.30 in the evening. Another person was already seated in the autorickshaw and he started taking liberties with the 29-year-old woman when the vehicle reached a place called Echilamvayalil.
When the woman, a widow with a 10-year-old girl child, asked the auto driver to stop the vehicle, he declined and tried to speed up the vehicle. The woman then jumped out of the vehicle and suffered injuries in her arms. The injuries were not serious, police said.
The auto driver was identified as Balakrishnan, 50, and the co-passenger Vijayan, 45. Both were natives of Alapadambu near Peringom