Anna University sexual assault case: Convict Gnanasekaran gets life imprisonment

Chennai: 37-year-old Gnanasekaran, the lone accused in the Anna University sexual assault case, was on Monday sentenced to life imprisonment without remission for 30 years by a Mahila Court here which also imposed a fine of Rs 90,000 on him.

Judge M Rajalakshmi pronounced the sentence, five days after she found Gnanasekaran, a roadside biryani vendor, guilty of sexually assaulting the girl inside the campus of the prestigious institution in the heart of the city.

The judge had on May 28 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, though the convict requested for leniency citing his duties towards his elderly mother and a eight-year-old daughter.

Public Prosecutor Mary Jeyanthi said the accused will not be entitled to any privileges or early release and asserted that Gnanasekaran’s mobile phone was turned into a weapon against him in the sensitive case. She said call records from his mobile service provider did reveal that he received no call between 6.29 pm and 8.58 pm on December 23, 2024, the day he assaulted the girl, making it clear that his phone was on airplane mode for over two hours.

This, the public prosecutor, said effectively punches holes in Opposition claims that more than one person was involved in the crime leading to a campaign, “who’s the Sir?” by AIADMK and BJP.

“We submitted to the court a report from the forensic science lab which had analysed his phone activities on the day of the crime and concluded that he had put his phone on flight mode,” the public prosecutor said, adding that the court was convinced that there is only one accused in the case. “If the debate about whether there was involvement of more than one person continues, it will be contempt of court,” she warned.

As Chief Minister M K Stalin rushed to take credit for the verdict, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami sought to know why did the DMK government conclude even before investigation was over that there was only one accused. “Once the AIADMK government is formed, all answers will be available," he added.

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 in 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.

Gnanasekaran 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 in the university campus after dinner on Monday when they were struck by an individual who not just intimidated them but also filmed the duo. Immediately after attacking the male student, the accused dragged the girl to near-by bushes and sexually assaulted her.