Chennai, A 22-year-old youth, who had stabbed a schoolgirl for rejecting his love request, was found dead on a railway track at Tiruchi, Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.

Kesavan had stabbed the Class 11 girl near Tiruchi railway station in broad daylight on Tuesday.

The girl suffered 14 stab injuries and is battling for life at Tiruchi government medical college hospital.

Kesavan was arrested in a Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) case for having kidnapped the same girl in 2021. Police said that Kesavan had just come out of jail after serving prison term in the case.

According to Manaparai police that is investigating the case, the accused had proposed to the girl while she was going to a relative's home. When she spurned his request, an infuriated Kesavan stabbed her recklessly. The man fled the spot immediately after the gruesome act.

Police were tracing Kesavan from Tuesday onwards and found his body at the railway track near Manaparai, Tiruchi. A case has been registered and an investigation launched.