Life until death for nine convicts in 2019 Pollachi sexual assault case

COIMBATORE: Six years after the Pollachi sexual assault and extortion case came to light, the Mahila Court in Coimbatore on Tuesday sentenced all nine convicts to life imprisonment until death.

Judge R Nandhini Devi pronounced the quantum of punishment around noon after declaring them guilty in the morning. She ordered a compensation of Rs 85 lakh to the eight victims who came forward.

The nine accused – N Sabarirajan alias Rishwanth of Jothi Nagar, K Thirunavukkarasu of Makkinampatti, M Sathish Kumar and T Vasanthakumar of Suleeswaranpatti, R Mani alias Manivannan of Achipatti, P Babu of Mahalingapuram, T Haronimus Paul of Achipatti, K Arulanantham of Vadugapalayam, and M Arunkumar of Panikkampatti – all aged between 30 and 39, were brought to the court from the Salem Central Prison earlier in the day amid tight security.

Arulanantham is a former AIADMK functionary who was expelled from the party in the wake of his alleged involvement in the crime.

CBI Special Public Prosecutor Surendra Mohan said, “All the nine accused were awarded life terms under Sections 376D (gang rape) and 376(2)(n) (repeated rape on the same woman) of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code and were awarded life imprisonment till death as sought by the CBI which probed the case that had even echoed in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.”

“The punishment has been given considering the gravity and nature of the offence. The electronic evidence helped in scientifically proving the charges,” Mohan added.

Each of the accused has been slapped with a fine ranging from Rs 30,000 to 40,000, which overall comes to 1.56 lakh.

Life terms ranging from one to five were awarded to the convicts, with Thirunavukkarasu getting the highest of five, he said. The court also awarded the convicts different prison terms ranging between 3 and 10 years,” he added.

The court examined 48 witnesses, and while the anonymity of the survivors was protected, not a single witness in the sensitive case turned hostile. During the trial, about eight affected women had deposed, he said.

The crimes took place over a two-year period, from 2016 to 2018. All those facing the charges have been accused of criminal conspiracy, sexual harassment, rape, gang rape, and extortion, in the series of incidents, including blackmail, during the two years.

The victims were mostly college girls and the incident came to light in 2019 after one of the affected women lodged a complaint with the police.

The men mostly preyed on college girls and their offences came to light in 2019 when one of the survivors blew the lid off their crimes by filing a complaint with the Pollachi East police in February 2019. The incident sent shockwaves across the state over the audacity of the perpetrators, prompting widespread calls for justice to the survivors.

They filmed rape to blackmail victims for money, sexual favours

A viral audio clip of a purported victim pleading with the men then had led to widespread anger and anguish across the state.

The complainant, a 19-year-old college student, was conned into getting into a car, undressed, and raped and the act was filmed to further blackmail the girl for sexual favours and money.

Investigations revealed it was not an isolated incident as they sexually exploited several other girls, recorded the act and extorted money from them. They carried out the crime at a Pollachi farmhouse owned by one of the convicts.

The case, which was initially investigated by the Pollachi police, was taken over by the Crime Branch-CID in March 2019. Following national outrage for a detailed probe, the CBI took over the investigations in May 2019. The nine accused were charged under various counts including criminal conspiracy, gang rape, kidnap, illegal detention, and destruction of evidence.

As one of the accused Arulanantham was an AIADMK functionary at the time, allegations surfaced about the involvement of senior politicians in the case. The then Coimbatore Superintendent of Police, R Pandiarajan, also drew criticism after he revealed the name of the complainant.

Mohan said the convicted persons had sought leniency on grounds including their young age and aged parents.

After the judgment, the nine convicts were taken back to the Salem Central Prison. A large number of police were deployed in the court premises.

Welcoming the judgment, members of the All India Democratic Women’s Association broke into celebrations and distributed sweets in the court complex.