Police personnel stand guard at the entrance of Anna University after the alleged sexual assault of its girl student, in Chennai.
Credit: PTI Photo
Chennai: The Madras High Court-appointed all-women Special Investigation Team of IPS officers on Thursday began its probe into the Anna University sexual assault case by visiting the sprawling campus and interacting with students.
The team comprising Dr Bhukya Sneha Priya, Ayman Jamal and S Brinda launched their investigation after the police handed over the case details to them. Thursday also saw the Madras High Court come down heavily on political parties for “politicising” the issue with no real concern when PMK advocate K Balu mentioned that their leaders were denied permission to protest against the incident.
Sources said the all-woman team visited the university on Thursday and will continue with its probe, including talking to the survivor. “The investigation has just begun. They will submit a status report to the High Court,” a source said.
Justice P Velmurugan of the High Court opined that the protests by political parties were aimed only at attracting media attention and not out of concern for the society. He also tore into the media for conducting a “media trial” ever since the survivor mustered the courage to report the sexual assault on her to the police.
At one point, the judge said the court has constituted an all-woman team to investigate the sexual assault case, and that the court knows how to deal with the case if the investigation is not conducted properly.
The sexual assault case has come as an embarrassment for the DMK with the Madras High Court on Saturday coming down heavily on Greater Chennai Police Commissioner A Arun for revealing key facts of the sensitive case at a press conference and asking the government to examine the issue and initiate all appropriate actions against him, if required under law.
The court, while hearing two petitions seeking a CBI probe, had also asked the Tamil Nadu government to pay Rs 25 lakh as compensation to the girl for the for the trauma undergone by her and the family members due to leak of the FIR which gave away her details and directed Anna University to sponsor the education of the survivor for not ensuring her safety on the campus.
Anna University is the premier engineering institute in the state and its campus is spread over hundreds of acres of land in upscale Guindy.