The CBI has filed its first chargesheet in the Pollachi sexual assault case that shook Tamil Nadu when it came to light. The chargesheet has been filed against the five accused viz. Sabrirajanth aka Risvanth, K Thirunavukkarasu, M Sathish, T Vasanth Kumar and R Manni aka Mani Vanan.
The chargesheet that has been filed in Coimbatore includes sections 354(A) (sexual harassment), 354 (B) (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) of the IPC and 66(E) (Punishment for violation of privacy) of Information Technology Act, 2000 and section 4 (Penalty for harassment of woman) of Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Women’s Harassment Act. The police have also added IPC Section 376 (rape) and section 394, an offence of robbery that is punishable up to 10 years if found guilty. CBI’s probe has deduced that the case was an organised crime.
On the basis of notification from the state and the Centre, CBI had registered two cases in April and the chargesheet has now been filed in less than a month's time. The first FIR was based on the sexual harassment and snatching of a gold chain reported in Coimbatore district on February 12. The second FIR is related to an assault on the survivor’s brother on February 26 that took place near the town.
The issue came to light in February this year when the survivor complained to Tamil Nadu Police that four men - Thirunavukarasu, Sabarirajan(alias Riswandh), Satheesh and Vasanthakumar - forcibly removed her clothes in a car and video-graphed the act, the CBI FIR said. The CBI arrested the fifth accused, Mani, a few weeks ago in May and sent him to 20-day judicial custody.
The Pollachi sexual assault and extortion case that first surfaced in late February opened a can of worms, leading the police to believe that over 50 women may have been victims of sexual assault by a close network of men.
Of the four initial accused, Sabarirajan alias Riswandh is a 25-year-old civil engineer in Pollachi; Thirunavukkarasu is a 26-year-old financier; Vasanthakumar works for Thirunavukkarasu to collect money from clients; and Sathish is the owner of a readymade garments shop in Pollachi.