Tamil Nadu collector blames 3-year-old child's 'behaviour' for sexual assault, state govt shunts him out

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government has transferred Mayiladuthurai district collector A P Mahabharathi after his alleged remark blaming the behaviour of a 3-year-old sexual abuse victim for the assault led to an outrage.

Addressing a sensitisation programme, Mahabharathi allegedly said on Friday that the three-and-a-half year old child had behaved in a "wrong way" and as per a report he had received, the child had spit on the face of the assailant and that could have been the reason for the assault and hence, it was important to consider both the sides of the POCSO case.

The collector's remark went viral on social media and led to an outrage and several users asked how a child could be aware of the consequences of its acts and they expressed shock that the top official had not given a thought to it.

Following the rage over the insensitive remark, the official was transferred out of Mayiladuthurai and he has not been assigned any fresh role, sources said.

A 16-year old boy was the assailant in the case of sexual assault of the three-and a half year old child in Mayiladuthurai.