COIMBATORE: The gang rape victim and her boyfriend testified in a closed courtroom in Coimbatore on Monday.
On that fateful night (November 2) last year, the three accused, T Karuppasamy alias Satheesh, his brother T Kaleeswaran alias Karthik, and their relative M Guna alias Thavasi, forcibly took the 20-year-old victim to a secluded spot after attacking her boyfriend and sexually assaulting her near Coimbatore International Airport. They were chatting in a car when the tragedy unfolded.
The police nabbed the accused by opening fire in defence. Police said Kaleeswaran is still undergoing treatment at the in-campus hospital in Coimbatore Central Prison, while two others have recovered and were put behind bars.
The police filed a preliminary charge sheet before the Mahila Court on December 2, and a 220-page additional charge sheet was filed on December 9. Meanwhile, the victim’s boyfriend testified before the judge on the assault incident for about three hours in the morning.
In the afternoon, the girl testified for around three hours by recounting the horror she went through the entire night. The court then adjourned further proceedings to February 6. Of the total 113 witnesses in the case, 111 others are yet to testify and may come up in the coming days.
Considering the sensitivity of the case, the entire proceedings happened in the closed courtroom, and armed police personnel were deployed at the entrance for security purposes.