Coimbatore5 minutes ago
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The Coimbatore Women’s Court on Tuesday convicted 9 accused in the case in the 7 -year -old sexual harassment case in Polachi, Tamil Nadu. Judge R Nandini Devi found him guilty of gangrape and repeated rapes. They will be sentenced this afternoon.
Between 2016 and 2018, around eight women were sexually abused in Polachi. Most of the victims were college students. He made women videos and raped her several times under her guise and also blackmailed for money.
Nine people have been kept in Salem Central Jail since the arrest in 2019.
The incident came to light when a victim student lodged a police complaint. The culprits were accused of criminal conspiracy, sexual harassment, rape, gangrape and extortion. Nine people were arrested in 2019. Since then all Salem is lodged in Central Jail.
Among the convicts are Sabarirajan alias Rishawant (32 years), Thirunnavukarasu (34 years), T Vasant Kumar (30 years), M Satish (33 years, R Mani alias Manivannan, P Babu (33 years), Haron Paul (32 years), Arunnam (39 years) and Arun Kumar (33 years).
The incident of Pollachi caused outrage in Tamil Nadu. Its echoes also arose in the state assembly. The local police initially investigated the case, but was later handed over to CB-CID. In 2019, the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
During the CBI investigation, a pattern of sexual abuse with women in a systematic manner was exposed. The victims alleged that the accused had threatened that if they refused to do so, they would leak their video families and relatives.
Surendra Mohan, Special Public Prosecutor of CBI, said that the culprits had demanded softening of their young age and other grounds including elderly parents. The investigating agency has demanded life imprisonment for the accused. The CBI has also sought compensation for the victim women.
Surendra Mohan said that a total of 48 witnesses were questioned during the investigation. None of them reversed their statement. Electronic evidence played an important role in proving the allegations, as they were scientifically proven.