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: Five months after a second-year engineering student of the prestigious Anna University was sexually assaulted inside the campus, a Mahila Court here on Wednesday pronounced as guilty the lone accused, Gnanasekar, a DMK sympathiser whose involvement in the case triggered a massive political storm.
The judge M Rajalakshmi, in her verdict, said the prosecution has proved the involvement of Gnanasekar, a roadside biriyani vendor and a history sheeter, “beyond a reasonable doubt” and convicted him of sexual assault and 10 other charges filed by the Chennai Police. The judge added that she will pronounce the quantum of sentence to Gnanasekar on June 2.
The judge found him guilty of all charges booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Information Technology Act, and the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act.
The case, which raised serious questions over the safety of girl students inside college campuses, was caught in several rows after the FIR found its way into the public domain, with many media outlets and social media handles revealing the identity of the survivor. This prompted the Madras High Court to constitute an all-woman Special Investigation Team (SIT) of three IPS officers to probe both cases -- the sexual assault of the student and the FIR leak.
The high court also earlier directed the state government to pay Rs 25 lakh compensation to the 19-year-old student and Anna University to sponsor her education for failing to ensure her safety.
Though initial reports said Gnanasekar spoke to someone over the phone before sexually assaulting the survivor, the SIT is believed to have concluded that the 37-year-old man was the only accused in the case. AIADMK, the principal Opposition party, utilised the opportunity to launch a campaign, “Who’s the Sir?” against the DMK by putting the ruling party on the mat on the issue of law and order.
The BJP also took to the streets on the issue with its then state chief K Annamalai whipping himself in public and vowing not to wear slippers till the DMK was thrown out of power. However, Annamalai began wearing footwear after his successor, Nainar Nagendran, requested him to do so.
Ruling DMK and AIADMK quickly jumped to take credit for the verdict, with Chief Minister M K Stalin saying his government ensured that the trial was completed in just about 150 days. Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami said that though he welcomes the verdict, questions remain on the manner the DMK handled the sensitive case, including the FIR leak.
Gnanasekar was arrested after police zeroed in on him after going through multiple video footage sourced from CCTV cameras installed inside the premises.
Anna University is the premier engineering institute in the state, and its campus is spread over hundreds of acres of land in upscale Guindy.
The second-year engineering student and her male friend were talking behind a building on the university campus after dinner on December 23 when they were struck by an individual who not only intimidated them but also filmed the duo. Immediately after attacking the male student, the accused dragged the girl to nearby bushes and sexually assaulted her.
A case under sections 63 (a) (rape), 64 (i) ( a man commits rape, on a woman incapable of giving consent), and 75 (sexual harassment) of BNS was slapped against Gnanasekaran.