Pollachi sexual assault case: Four held under Goondas Act for cheating several women online by filming, blackmailing them

The Tamil Nadu Police has booked four accused — Sabarirajan, Vasanthakumar, Sathish and Thirunavukkarasu — in the Pollachi sexual assault case under the Goondas Act , a day after the Pollachi Magistrate Court extended the remand for three of the four accused by 15 days. While Sabarirajan, Vasanthakumar and Sathish were arrested on 24 February, Thirunavukkarasu was apprehended on 5 March and thus, his period of custody remains. District Superintendent of Police R Pandiarajan said on Monday that only four people have been identified so far as being involved in the alleged sexual harassment of a girl in Pollachi. The four men were arrested in February based on a complaint (filed on 24 February) by a 19-year-old girl. The girl told the police that on 12 February, 2019 the men had taken her in a car and attempted to disrobe her and videographed the act to later blackmail her. They threw her out of the vehicle after snatching her gold chain. [caption id=“attachment_4400211” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. IBN Live[/caption] When the girl confided in her family, her brother decided to confront the men. However, he was beaten up and reports said that an AIADMK functionary was also involved in the alleged assault of the survivor’s brother. According to a report by The News Minute, in the initial FIR filed by the brother, the name of the AIADMK member A Nagraj was not mentioned, but it was added later. Nagraj has reportedly been removed from the party’s primary membership, following the backlash for “indulging in anti-party activities ”. The arrested men have reportedly confessed to the crime after being questioned by the police. An FIR was filed against the four accused under Sections 354(A) (sexual harassment), 354 (B) (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) of the IPC and 66(E) (Punishment for violation of privacy) of Information Technology Act, 2000 and Section 4 (Penalty for harassment of woman) of Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Women’s Harassment Act, and all four have been remanded to judicial custody and are lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison. The police also added IPC Section 394 to the case, an offense of robbery that is punishable up to 10 years of jail if found guilty. According to The News Minute report, police have arrested four others in a separate case for threatening the girl’s brother, who are politically-influential in Pollachi and have business interests in liquor and cable TV networks. But they were later released on bail.

Meanwhile, the police are investigating claims that the four men had sexually assaulted and extorted other women also. According to the police, their modus operandi involved befriending college-going girls online, filming them after they met them in person, and blackmailing them later with the videos for extorting money.

The police have urged people to come forward and file a complaint, in case they have been victims of this gang. However, as per The News Minute’s report, no new complaint had been filed with the police as of Monday. Meanwhile, in wake of the media reportage of the case, political reactions have also come in. DMK chief MK Stalin issued a statement asking whether the AIADMK government was trying to protect the accused and why the Tamil Nadu government has not taken proper action so far.

PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss, who is part of the AIADMK alliance, also issued a statement demanding maximum punishment for the culprits. According to a report by The Indian Express , fearing poll backlash, the Palaniswami government may soon hand over to the probe in the case to CID’s central branch (CB-CID). Local units of Opposition parties in Pollachi staged a massive protest seeking action alleging that the ruling party men including those close to the deputy speaker Pollachi V Jayaraman were involved in the incident, the report said. Apparently, AIADMK’s IT cell submitted a separate complaint to the police, seeking action against those spreading propaganda against the ruling party and its leaders, the report states. MDMK leader Vaiko has also threatened to organise protests if the government and the police failed to act immediately and bring to justice other members of the gang behind the crime. Vaiko said: “What is painful is the reports that the ruling AIADMK is trying to protect the culprits. Those who are behind the incident should be brought to book and if the government fails in its duty, we will organise protests." Whereas PMK founder S Ramadoss tweeted: “The truth that the Pollachi incident tells us is that there are animals who masquerade as human beings. Young girls should be wary of men who try to snare them in the name of love.” With inputs from PTI