Tamil Nadu: 7 cops suspended for letting sexual assault accused interact with kin

Seven police officers landed in trouble after a video showing police van carrying five accused in Pollachi sexual assault case halting for a brief interaction with the kin of the accused, surfaced. The blatant violation has led to the suspension of police officers.

Coimbatore : Seven police officers have been suspended after they allegedly permitted five accused in Pollachi sexual assault to meet their kin on their way back to prison after they appeared before Coimbatore Mahila court. As seen in a video, the police van stopped along the roadside in Coimbatore and the accused interacted with kin for several minutes. ETV Bharat had reported the blatant violation of protocol on October 20.

Salem city police commissioner Najmal Hoda ordered the suspension of Special Sub Inspector Subramaniyan, Prabhu, Vel Kumar, Karthik and Constables Raj Kumar, Natarajam and Rajesh Kumar. They were part of the escort team. The team was taking five accused K Thirunavkkarasu, Sabarirajan, Sathish, Manivannan and Vasanthakumar back to prison.

Pollachi sexual assault case

Hitting headlines, sexual abuse case of a 19-year-old girl was reported in 2019 which then snowballed into a case involving a racket indulged in blackmail, sexual abuse and extortion. An old farmhouse at Chinnappapalayam near Pollachi belonging to K. Thirunavukkarasu, a 28-year-old financier from Makkinampatti, was the main hangout of a group of youngsters from Pollachi.

After the complaint was filed on February 24, 2019, Pollachi town east police arrested the financier along with his friends N. Rishwanth, 26, alias Sabarirajan of MGR Nagar; N. Sathish, 30, of Suleeswaranpatti; and T. Vasanthakumar 25. They were booked under Sections 354 A (sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment), 354 B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 392 (punishment for robbery) of the IPC; Section 66 E (punishment for violation of privacy) of the Information Technology Act; and Section 4 (penalty for harassment of women) of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Woman (TNPHW) Act. The case further turned sensational with the arrest of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member, ‘Bar’ Nagaraj. He was expelled the next day.

Further, three more accused were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in January 2021. Arulanantham (34), Heron Paul (29) and Babu (30) were the arrested trio. Arulanantham was the Pollachi town secretary of the AIADMK student wing.