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In yet another grim reminder that the city is becoming unsafe for women, the son of Tamil actor Bhuvaneshwari was arrested by the Thirumangalam police on Wednesday after the girl’s family filed a complaint that he had been harassing her, as per a report in The Times of India.
Twenty-three-year-old Mithun Srinivasan is a third-year law student and had acted dangerously in the past on two previous occasions, the report states.
In the first instance, he had poured kerosene all around her house and tried to burn it down but was chased away after the family members and a few residents in the neighbourhood intervened.
He then returned later and smashed the CCTV cameras, which the family had installed at their house, over security fears following the arson attempt.
Mithun, who lives on Angel Street in Valsaravakkam with his mother, had known the girl since the time they attended a private school together. After completing Class XII, the girl enrolled at a medical college in Neelankarai and Mithun enrolled in a law course at a college in Kattankulathur on the city’s outskirts, police said.
According to reports, though they were initially friends, the girl cut ties after learning that Mithun had a criminal case against him. But he persisted, and even after finishing school, he continued to harass her by posting messages on social media platforms.
"As she kept avoiding him, he went to her house in Tirumangalam two months ago and threatened to pour kerosene on her and even tried to set her house ablaze," inspector M Ravi told ToI.
Mithun has been booked under Sections 354-B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 448 (punishment for house trespass), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees), 506 (i) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 4 of Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act (penalty for harassment of women).
According to police sources, Mithun was married to a Sri Lankan woman called Asmitha but her parents have approached the Madras High Court seeking to end the marriage. Mithun also allegedly threatened the girl saying she would face the fate of Swathi, who was hacked to death in Nungambakkom railway station last year.
This comes just days after a man in Chennai who had been stalking a 22-year-old woman, set her and her family on fire. The woman later succumbed to her injuries.
The incident happened at Adambakkam AGS Colony, in Saraswathi Nagar, between 8.45pm and 9pm on Monday night. The accused, Aakash, absconded soon after the incident, but was caught on Tuesday morning.