Pollachi sexual assault case: All nine convicts sentenced to life imprisonment till death
COIMBATORE: The Mahila court in Coimbatore on May 13, sentenced all the nine accused convicted in the Pollachi sexual assault case to life imprisonment till death.
Judge R. Nandhini Devi pronounced the the verdict on the case that shook Tamil Nadu six years ago.
Earlier, the court found the accused guilty on all eight charges.The accused were identified as K. Thirunavukkarasu (34), N. Rishwanth, alias Sabarirajan (32), M. Sathish (33), T. Vasantha Kumar (30), R. Manivannan (32), Haron Paul (32), P. Babu, alias Bike Babu (33), K. Arulanandham (39), and M. Arunkumar.
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 that happened between 2016 and 2018.
V. Surendra Mohan, the special public prosecutor appearing for CBI cases, said that the counsel for the defendants had sought leniency in sentencing, citing the age and family backgrounds of the accused.
"We have appealed to the court to punish all the accused severely for this grave crime. Under Section 376D of the IPC, the accused can be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years," he said while addressing the press after the verdict.
A total of eight victims appeared and testified against the accused in the case. "All 48 witnesses appeared before the court and gave their testimony against the accused," he added.
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