Chennai: A Coimbatore Mahila Court Tuesday handed down life imprisonment to all nine accused in the 2019 Pollachi sexual assault case after pronouncing them guilty of various charges including gang rape and repeated rape.
Among the nine convicts was K Arulanantham, AIADMK’s Pollachi town student wing secretary, who was expelled from the party after he was arrested in 2021.
Apart from sexual assault of several women in Pollachi in Coimbatore district, the high-profile case also involved charges of blackmail and extortion. Eight survivors recorded their statements before the CBI.
On completion of the trial, special Mahila judge Nandhini Devi held all nine guilty of various charges including gang rape, rape, repeated rape on the same woman, criminal conspiracy and kidnapping.
The nine convicts are—Arulanantham (39), N Sabarirajan (32), K. Thirunavukkarasu (34), M. Sathish (33), T. Vasanthakumar (30), R. Manivannan (32), P. Babu (33), T. Haronimus Paul (32), and M. Arunkumar.
Reacting to the judgment, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin wrote on social media platform X that justice has been served for the atrocities committed by criminals including an AIADMK functionary.
“Let the ‘sirs’ who tried to protect the camp of the culprits bow their heads in shame if they have any dignity,” he wrote on X in Tamil.
The ruling DMK and opposition AIADMK have been using the ‘sir’ barb to attack each other as one of complainants had alleged that the person who assaulted her on a university campus had during the incident received a call from someone whom he was referring to as “sir”.
Opposition leader Edappadi K Palaniswami took to X before the CM to welcome the judgment. “It is because of the AIADMK government’s prompt action to transfer the case to the CBI ensured an impartial probe and transparency, which has ensured justice now,” he posted.
Speaking to ThePrint in Coimbatore, Public Prosecutor Chandra Mohan said, “They were convicted of various charges including 376D and 376(ii)(n) of the IPC, pertaining to gang rape and repeated rape on the same woman. These are serious charges and all the witnesses are very strong. Hence, even if they go for an appeal, it would be turned down by the apex court as well.”
Defense Counsel K Pandiarajan told ThePrint they would go in for an appeal seeking a reduced sentence. “We requested the judge to take a lenient view since they were all first-time offenders and asked to consider their age and their aged parents. However, they were sentenced to life and we will appeal before the High Court.”
The case came to light on 12 February 2019, when a 19-year-old woman filed a complaint with the Pollachi Town police that she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted. Later, seven more women lodged a sexual assault complaint against other men.
The sexual assaults were videotaped and the recordings were used to extort money and demand sexual favours from the women.
Based on the complaints, police registered a case and arrested Sabarirajan, Vasanthakumar and Sathish from Pollachi.
Manivannan surrendered before a magistrate court in Coimbatore on 2 March 2019. He was taken into police custody and investigations revealed he was also involved in the sexual assault case. Subsequently, on 5 March, police arrested Thirunavukkarasu, who was a friend of Sabarirajan.
The Palaniswami-led AIADMK government transferred the case to the State Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Division(CB-CID) the same month, and later to the CBI.
The CBI began its investigation and seized mobile phones and laptops of Thirunavukkarasu and Sabarirajan. Based on video evidence, the CBI arrested Haronimus Paul, Babu alias Bike Babu, and Arulanandam in 2021.
All the nine accused were lodged in Salem prison. According to the CBI, the agency produced 48 witnesses and eight women survivors before the court and none of them turned hostile.
“There were about 215 documents, cell phones, pen drives, CDs and 35 electronic devices containing electronic data that were seized. All the devices were taken for investigation and submitted to the court. This electronic evidence helped prove the case,” Chandra Mohan said.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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