A month after he allegedly drugged, raped and videographed a 20-year-old woman, the son of veteran actor Sooriyakanth has been arrested by the Chennai police. The accused, Vijay Harish, who is starring in an upcoming film titled Naangalum Nallavangadhan, was arrested from one of the family's residences in the city where he was hiding.
The crime came to light on Tuesday night, when the woman who is studying in a private college in the city approached the Tiruvottiyur police with a complaint. According to her statement, she had known the accused for a year. In January, he had invited her for a birthday party at an apartment in Vaadikuppam. Once she reached there, he allegedly gave her a glass of juice laced with sedatives.
"Once she had the juice, she fell unconscious," says an investigating officer in the case. "And after that he allegedly raped her and took videos of her," says the officer.
And it did not end there. When the survivor gained consciousness, he threatened to leak the videos if she complained to anyone. According to the police, he demanded further sexual favours from her even after the rape and said that he would upload her videos online if she did not comply.
"We arrested him on Wednesday morning and remanded him to judicial custody," says the investigating officer. "He has multiple houses in the city and was absconding. We found him after searching these houses," the officer adds
The police further advise women to immediately approach them if threatened with any electronic material or blackmailed in any manner.
"Currently we are investigating whether he has sent the videos to anyone else or shared it on online platforms," says the official. "If that is confirmed then we will also book him under the Information Technology Act," he adds.
The accused has currently been booked under sections 328 (Causing hurt by means of poison), 343 (Wrongful confinement), 354B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 354C (voyeurism), 376 (rape) and 506(i) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.