TW: Mention of rape, sexual assault

Tiruvallur police have arrested three men for rape and murder of a young woman in Gummudipoondi, an industrial town located in the outskirts of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The victim is yet to be identified and the police suspect that she might have been a migrant worker from Andhra Pradesh around the age of 25-30 years old.

Police officials told TNM on Friday, May 10, that they have booked the accused–Surya (26), Jebakumar (23) and Swender (23)-- under sections 376 (rape) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). While Surya hails from Padirivedu, the other two accused are from nearby areas Kannampakkam and Madarpakkam.

According to Padirivedu police, local residents found the victim’s body in an empty land near a petrol bunk on Thursday, May 9. “Her body had several injuries and was only partially clothed. We sent the body to Government Stanley Hospital in Chennai for a postmortem and the results concluded that she had been raped and murdered,” the police told TNM. The incident took place on Wednesday, May 8 at night. 

Based on CCTV footage, the police concluded that the victim had purchased alcohol from a TASMAC outlet, located adjacent to the petrol bunk when one of the accused began to follow her. The police apprehended him, which led to the knowing of the whereabouts of the other two suspects.

During interrogation, the accused confessed to the crime and they have been remanded, the police added. The unidentified victim was allegedly raped by all the three men who had then strangled her to death.