Chennai: A 40-year-old autorickshaw driver was arrested Tuesday by Chennai Police after his alleged sexual assault on one of his passengers who was pursuing journalism in one of the City Colleges. Police identified the arrested as Selvam Gothandam, (40), a resident of Palavakkam.
The victim had also named Selvam as the suspect and reported that he had groped her near their hotel where they were to be dropped. "The incident occurred while my friend was making the payment and I was stepping out of the auto. To fight back, I screamed. We also tried to stop him but somehow he managed to escape," she said.
The victim blamed the police of not being helpful initially. She later had put out a tweet, in reply to her long thread detailing the assault and her ordeal, thanking the Commissioner of Police of Tambaram for the swift action in nabbing the suspect, his autorickshaw and gathering the CCTV footage from the crime scene.
"I immediately called the police but there was no response. After waiting for 30 mins, an inspector along with a man came to the hotel to investigate. He asked us to wait till the morning to file an FIR, as there was no lady officer at the station. He was also not letting us go to the police station to file an offline FIR. But we still managed to go to the Semmencherry Police Station, along with two hotel employees. Also, the station in charge did not let us enter the police station as women are not allowed during night," she had tweeted.
"I had to file the complaint outside the station. Also, the station incharge gave us an A4 sheet to write an application instead of an FIR. I’ve been asked to visit the Lady Police Officer today post 9 A.M. (they also denied sharing her number with us)," she further said.
"As per the evidences, he’s punishable under section 354 and 506 of IPC. It was so traumatic that my friend and I still cannot process it. The fact that he had the audacity to ‘smirk’ while I was screaming at him. I don’t think I can ever forget his face," she said, detailing her ordeal further.
