Absconding for 10 years: Rapist jumps bail twice, marries twice; arrested in Andaman

CHENNAI: Tambaram special police team have arrested a man who had jumped bail two times, married two times after being arrested for sexual assault in 2014.

During his years on the run, the accused married two women, one in Dharmapuri and another in the Andaman Islands.

The accused, Govindasamy (38) is from the Dharmapuri district. While working as a daily wage labourer in Tambaram, he was arrested in 2014 for the sexual assault of a young woman. He was remanded in custody but later released on bail after a few months.

After he was released, Govindasamy failed to appear in court for his trial and went missing. He initially settled in his native Dharmapuri, where in 2015, he got married.

When he failed to appear repeatedly, the Chengalpattu court ordered Tambaram police to trace and produce him. After an intensive search, police arrested him in Dharmapuri and produced him in court, leading to his second imprisonment.

But once again, Govindasamy jumped bail and fled to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. While hiding there, he reportedly fell in love with another woman and married her, living with his second wife under a false identity.

Police later discovered that he had been in constant contact with his first wife in Dharmapuri through phone calls, which helped them trace his location.

When he recently returned to Dharmapuri to visit his first wife, Tambaram police arrested him and presented him at the Chengalpattu court, which sent him back to prison. Months later, after being granted bail again, he absconded once more, failing to appear for trial.

Following his repeated offence, the Chengalpattu court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant and directed Tambaram police to track and arrest him. Acting on this order, police analysed his mobile phone tower location and found signals originating from the Andaman Islands.

A special police team then went to Andaman, where they located Govindasamy living with his second wife. He was arrested and brought back to Chennai by flight. He was later produced before the Chengalpattu court on Thursday evening and remanded in custody for the third time.