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The Hindu
3 days ago
- The Hindu
Why is Pollachi sexual assault verdict unique?
The story so far: On May 13, 2025, a Mahila Court in Coimbatore convicted nine men from Pollachi under Section 376D (gang rape) of the Indian Penal Code and imposed the maximum punishment of imprisonment for the remainder of their life. The court also awarded a compensation of ₹85 lakh to seven victims, including those who had been subjected to sexual assault repeatedly pursuant a conspiracy hatched by the convicts between October 2016 and February 2019. According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the modus operandi of the convicts was to befriend women before abducting and subjecting them to sexual assault. The prosecution had also charged the gang of recording the sexual acts on video and using those clips to threaten and rape the women repeatedly on different occasions. The 658-page judgement delivered by sessions judge R. Nandhini Devi highlights the challenges faced by the prosecution in proving its case in order to secure a conviction. Did Victim 'A' exaggerate the offence committed against her? Victim 'A', a 19-year-old college girl, was the last victim of the convicts before they got arrested in 2019. However, she turned out to be the first to lodge a police complaint on February 24, 2019 leading to the unearthing of their antecedents. According to the prosecution, A1 (28-year-old Rishwanth alias N. Sabarirajan, a civil engineer by profession) had pretended to have fallen in love with the victim, taken her to a place near a poultry farm in a car and abused her sexually by removing her upper garments on February 12, 2019. He also surreptitiously shot half naked pictures of the victim with a mobile phone and used them to threaten her. When she confided about it to her family members after a few days, her elder brother and his friends tracked down the accused as well as his accomplices and found many videos of other women having been subjected to sexual assault by the gang. Therefore, the family decided to lodge a complaint after 12 days since the victim was abused. When victim 'A' deposed before the trial court after six years, she levelled the charge of rape too against A1. However, the CBI Special Public Prosecutor fairly conceded that such an exaggerated claim made by the victim for the first time before the trial court, and not made before any of the four investigating officers or the two judicial magistrates during the course of investigation, need not be given credence. After recording his submission, the court said, it was quite possible that the victim did not want the accused to escape from punishment or imposed with lesser punishment and therefore, she might have chosen to make an exaggerated allegation. Stating that the improved version of the victim could certainly not be accepted by the court, the trial judge said, at the same time, the entire testimony of the victim could not be discarded just because of the exaggerated portion. The principle falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus (false in one thing, false in everything) has no application in Indian courts, she said. 'There is a marked difference between exaggerated version and false version,' the judge observed and added that it was the duty of the court to sift the chaff from the grain in case of exaggerations or contradictions. Ultimately, the trial court convicted A1 for the charge of outraging the modesty of the victim but acquitted A2 (30-year-old financier K. Thirunavukkarasu) and A5 (28-year-old Mani alias R. Manivannan whose car was used for the crime) from the charges levelled against them for having facilitated the offence against this victim. What was the goof up in the charge sheets related to Victim B? Victim 'B' was also a final year college student. She had been brutally gang raped by A1, A2, A3 (29-year-old M. Sathish), A4 (26-year-old T. Vasanthakumar) and A7 (29-year-old Haron alias T. Haronimus Paul) on April 24, 2018 despite being informed that she was menstruating at that point of time. The first charge sheet filed by CBI Inspector Vijayavaishnavi had mentioned the incident to have taken place in April 2018 but the supplementary charge sheet filed by Inspector Pachayammal had mentioned it as November 2018. The SPP told the court the victim had specifically mentioned the occurrence to have taken place only in November 2018 to the second investigating officer but had not mentioned any specific date or month to the first investigating officer. Nevertheless, it was not known as to how the first investigating officer had mentioned the month as April 2018 in the first charge sheet. However, relying upon the forensic report regarding the video shot during the gang rape, the trial court concluded that the offence had taken place only in April and not November 2018. It also stated that the victim might have had confusion in recalling the exact month since semester examinations generally take place during April as well as November. The judge also held that the prosecution had failed to prove the use of a black colour car for abducting the victim since it had been purchased by A1 only on August 11, 2018. Nevertheless, the judge convicted all the five accused for gang rape on the basis of the victim's oral testimony corroborated by the electronic evidence. Why SC/ST Act was not invoked with respect to Victims 'C' and 'E'? According to the prosecution, Victim 'C' was gang raped by A2, A5 and A6 in September 2018 and Victim 'E', a MBA final year student, was raped by A1 and subjected to criminal intimidation by A2 and A5. Since both the victims belonged to a Scheduled Caste, the defence counsel contended that the entire prosecution launched against them would fall to the ground. The counsel pointed out that only an officer in the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police or above should investigate cases under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 and since only officers in the rank of Inspector had investigated the present case, all the charges against the accused must be eschewed. However, rejecting their argument, the trial judge held that the SC/ST Act need not be invoked merely because the victims happened to be from a Scheduled Caste unless there was evidence to prove that the offence had been committed due to caste hatred. How did A6 get convicted for raping Victims 'D' & 'H' though he was not involved in any sexual act? The trial court found A2, A3 and A5 to have subjected Victim 'D', a second year college student, to gang rape in October 2018. A6 had waited outside when the crime was committed and then dropped the victim in a car at Pollachi bus stand. Similarly, when eight of the nine accused mercilessly raped Victim 'H', a teacher at a private school, one after the other, A6 alone had refused to indulge in any sexual act despite being asked to do so by A5. Nevertheless, the trial court convicted A6 too for the charge of gang rape of both the victims since he was a part of the gang. Similarly, the court convicted A2 to A4 too for the charge of gang rape of Victim 'G', a beauty parlour employee, though the sexual act against her had been committed only by A1. The trial judge pointed out that the Supreme Court in its latest judgement delivered on May 2, 2025 in Raju alias Umakant versus State of Madhya Pradesh had held that it was not necessary for all the persons in a gang to have indulged in overt sexual acts to be convicted for gang rape. It was sufficient even if one of them had committed the act in pursuance of the common intention among the gang members. Why didn't Victim 'F' testify in court leading to acquittal of accused? The prosecution's case was that the nine accused had sexually assaulted as many as eight victims in total. However, one of them (Victim F) did not come forward to testify before the court. According to the prosecution, Victim 'F' was abducted and gang raped by A1, A2, A3, and A7. The victim had written a letter to the trial court expressing her inability to depose before the court due to a situation prevailing in her matrimonial home and the continuous medical treatment required for her new born baby. Therefore, left with no option, the CBI had dispensed with her examination before the court. The court acquitted all four accused from the charge of raping her but held that no adverse inference could be drawn against the prosecution and the CBI could not be found to have deliberately withheld the witness especially when it could not convince her to testify despite best efforts. How did the court deal with defence arguments? The defence raised many issues such as non production of the mobile phones of the victims, non collection of CCTV footage to prove abduction from public places, prosecution's failure to secure the clothes worn by the victims at the time of the crime, the non inclination of the victims to undergo medical examination and so on to make a dent in the prosecution case. However, the trial judge rejected all such contentions by observing that in sexual offence cases, the oral evidence of the victims alone was sufficient to convict the accused if such evidence inspires the confidence of the court. 'Our jurisprudential enthusiasm for presumed innocence must be moderated by the pragmatic need to make criminal justice potent and realistic... Proof beyond reasonable doubt does not mean proof beyond the shadow of doubt. The law would fail to protect the community if it admitted fanciful possibilities to deflect the court of justice,' the judge observed.
The Hindu
14-05-2025
- The Hindu
Pollachi sexual assault case: Protect identities of Pollachi case survivors while awarding compensation: Court
The Mahila Court in Coimbatore, which delivered the verdict in the sensational Pollachi sexual assault case on Tuesday, has directed authorities to ensure that the identities of survivors were protected while facilitating the release of compensation. In her order, judge R. Nandhini Devi directed inspector Pachaiammal Sampath Kumar of the Central Bureau of Investigation and special sub-inspector Briskilla Juvanitta of the All Women Police Station, Pollachi, to produce the survivors before the District Legal Services Authority, Coimbatore, without divulging their real identity and enable them to get compensation without any hindrance. On Tuesday, the court ordered for a total compensation of ₹85 lakh to seven out of the eight survivors in the case [contrary to all eight mentioned in earlier reports]. One survivor, who has been identified as 'F' in case files and other legal documents, was not examined as prosecution witness, according to the judgment order. Other seven survivors were described as A, B, C, D, E, G and H to protect their identities. The compensation awarded by the court for the seven survivors are — A, ₹2 lakh; B, ₹15 lakh; C and D ₹10 lakh each; E, ₹8 lakh; G ₹15 lakh; and H ₹25 lakh. To award the compensation, the court considered the gravity of the offence, medical expenses and the factor of rehabilitation for the survivors' future under the Tamil Nadu Victim Compensation Scheme 2013 and Central Victim Compensation Fund Scheme, in accordance with Section 357 A of the Cr. PC and the dictum laid down by the Supreme Court of India in the landmark decision of Saibaj Noormohammad Shaikh vs The State of Maharashtra on November 4, 2024. For awarding the compensation, the court considered the gravity of the offence, medical expenses and the factor of rehabilitation for their future life under the Tamil Nadu Victim Compensation Scheme 2013 and Central Victim Compensation Fund Scheme, in accordance with Section 357 A of the Cr. PC and the dictum laid down by the Supreme Court of India in the landmark decision of Saibaj Noormohammad Shaikh vs The State of Maharashtra on November 4, 2024. The court also ordered to return a gold chain belonging to a survivor, which had been snatched by one of the convicts and later recovered by the investigators. It was one of the material objects in the case. A. Radhika, General Secretary, All India Democratic Women's Association, Tamil Nadu, urged authorities to ensure continued protection to the families of the survivors. Stalin announces ₹25 lakh each to survivors Meanwhile, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced a compensation of ₹25 lakh each to all the survivors in the case, in addition to a total compensation of ₹85 lakh that has been ordered by the trial court. He said that the courage of the women, who bravely fought for the justice, was commendable.
The Hindu
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Restored faith: On the Pollachi verdict
Justice, if not unduly delayed, restores public faith in due process and the criminal justice system. The recent verdict in the Pollachi sexual assault case, where a Coimbatore Mahila Court convicted all nine accused and sentenced them to life imprisonment for the remainder of their natural lives, is a significant step in this regard. More so, because the entire case originated from a single plea for help from a young victim, which helped expose the involvement of multiple tentacles of a body of criminals. In February 2019, a 19-year-old college student reported to the Pollachi East police that four men had sexually assaulted her in a car near Pollachi 12 days earlier. The ensuing investigation revealed this complaint to be just the tip of the iceberg. As in the Prajwal Revanna case in Karnataka, the seizure of digital devices unveiled the full scope of the atrocities. Since 2016, a group of young men had been systematically preying on vulnerable young women, from disadvantaged groups, filming the assaults, and using these videos for further exploitation. The sheer depravity uncovered shocked the State's collective conscience. Public outrage intensified with the exposure of the accused's political connections. One was identified as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Pollachi town students' wing secretary (later expelled), while another, involved in an assault on the survivor's brother, held a local secretary position in Amma Peravai, an AIADMK-affiliated youth organisation. Faced with mounting public pressure, the State government initially transferred the investigation to the Crime Branch-CID and subsequently to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Mahila Court Judge R. Nandhini Devi also directed the State government to provide a total compensation of ₹85 lakh to the survivors. The judge concurred with the prosecution's argument that the perpetrators had exploited their financial resources, physical power, political influence, and the incriminating videos to silence the survivors and perpetrate repeated assaults. She emphasised that she was clear that the judgment should 'reflect the public abhorrence of the crime'. As elections approach, politicians must resist the temptation to politicise this judgment, which not only delivered satisfactory justice but also challenged the misuse of political and financial clout. To foster a genuine feeling of security, the government must now assure its citizens an environment free from exploitation.
The Hindu
13-05-2025
- The Hindu
Pollachi Sexual Assault Case: Life Terms for All Accused as CBI Probe Exposes Organised Racket
Published : May 13, 2025 20:50 IST - 5 MINS READ All nine accused in the sensitive Pollachi sexual assault case have been sentenced to life imprisonment after the Mahila Special Court in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, found them guilty of the heinous crimes of gang rape and extortion. There will be no remissions in their sentences. The crime gained national attention after it came to light in 2019 that a gang of youngsters with strong political connections had coerced scores of college and school-going girls and women into sexual acts. These acts were videotaped and used to blackmail the victims for money and further sexual favours. The incidents had been taking place in and around Pollachi town since 2014, but surfaced only after one of the victims mustered the courage to file a complaint at the Pollachi East police station on February 24, 2019. Following public outrage, the case was transferred first to the CB-CID and later to the CBI. On May 13, Judge R. Nandhini Devi found all nine accused—N. Sabarirajan (32), also known as Rishwanth; K. Thirunavukkarasu (34); M. Sathish (33); T. Vasanthakumar (30); R. Manivannan (32); P. Babu (33); T. Haronimus Paul (32); K. Arulanantham (39); and M. Arunkumar (33)—guilty. All of them hailed from Pollachi or nearby areas. Each accused was sentenced to a different number of life terms—one to five—all to run concurrently. Also Read | Suspended Tamil Nadu Special DGP sentenced to three years for sexual harassment Sections 376D (gang rape) and 376(2)(n) (repeated rape on the same woman) of the IPC, which were invoked against the accused, prescribe rigorous imprisonment of not less than 20 years and can extend to imprisonment for the remainder of the person's natural life. In addition, the accused were charged under various other sections for criminal conspiracy, sexual harassment, abduction, disrobing, and rape, as well as under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Sexual Harassment of Women Act. The judge also ordered a total compensation of ₹85 lakh to be paid to the victims. The CBI investigated the case and filed a 1,500-page charge sheet in which 48 witnesses, including eight girl victims, deposed. It submitted 200 documents and around 350 electronic documents and exhibits such as SIM cards, data and memory cards, laptops, mobiles and video clips. This evidence, CBI's Special Prosecutor Surendra Mohan said, was analysed by forensic and digital experts, and corroborated the statements of witnesses, enabling the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused beyond any doubt. 'Not even one witness turned hostile,' said the CBI counsel. The victims were given psychological counselling to help them come forward and file their complaints against the accused, and they were protected under the Witness Protection Act. 'It was a meticulously investigated case,' he added. A case with many twists The case was that Sabarirajan, based in Pollachi, would befriend young girls and women and lure them to a remote farmhouse, where they were sexually assaulted, often with others joining in. These assaults were videotaped and later used to blackmail the victims for money and further sexual favours. The victims were terrorised into silence, as the perpetrators, aged between 25 and 32, were politically well-connected. One of the accused, Arulanandam, who was then the AIADMK's Pollachi Youth Wing Town Secretary, was arrested in 2021. The seizure of mobile phones belonging to Sabareesan and his associate Thirunavukkarasu revealed the scale of the well-organised sex and extortion racket. Despite the gravity of the offences, only one victim came forward to file a complaint. The Pollachi East Police, which registered the FIR based on her statement, reportedly tried to dilute the case and protect the accused. Since then, a series of bizarre and troubling developments began to unfold. Victims were threatened, and the brother of the girl who first came forward to file the complaint was beaten up. Photographs of some of the accused posing with AIADMK Ministers were circulated in an apparent attempt to intimidate the victims. The government appointed a male officer as the Investigating Officer, which drew sharp criticism from civil society and the legal fraternity. The complainant's identity, including her mobile number, was leaked into the public domain. Another outrageous act followed: a Government Order (GO) dated March 13, 2019, issued by the Tamil Nadu Home Department in connection with the case, publicly revealed the name of the complainant, her college, and her brother's name. Also Read | Gang rape in Thanjavur exposes perpetrators' impunity and flaws in criminal justice system These blatant violations of legal safeguards by the then government sparked a nationwide uproar. Almost all major political parties, including the DMK, the CPI, and the CPI(M), took to the streets demanding a fair investigation. The DMK made it a key issue in its election campaign. Under mounting public pressure, the case was transferred to the CB-CID 20 days after the FIR was filed. However, as tensions escalated, it was eventually handed over to the CBI. The CBI was able to identify 12 girls as victims, but only eight agreed to come forward and file formal complaints. Despite the trauma and distress, all eight stood the trial with remarkable courage in their pursuit of justice. To ensure their safety, the accused were repeatedly denied bail. When a few of them challenged their detention under the Goondas Act in the Supreme Court, the State government strongly opposed their pleas, leading to the cancellation of their petitions. All the accused remained in Salem Central Prison for six years, which helped ensure the continued safety of the victims.
New Indian Express
13-05-2025
- New Indian Express
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 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.
