In a shocking incident, a 22-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly sexually assaulted repeatedly for several months by a group of eight men, including a functionary of the ruling DMK and children in conflict with the law, in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu.
The incident has brought back the horrific memories of young women being sexually assaulted by several men and the assaults filmed in Pollachi near Coimbatore, which came to light in 2019.
Police said eight men are involved in the latest incident and all of them, including four school students, were taken into custody for sexually assaulting the woman. While the men have been sent to judicial custody, the minor boys have been sent to a correction home in Madurai.
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A senior police officer said 27-year-old Hariharan, the prime accused in the sexual assault case, befriended the Dalit woman on a social networking site and they soon became friends. Junaid Ahmed, another accused and a DMK worker, was suspended from the party.
“On the pretext of marrying the girl, Hariharan had sex with her and made a video of their intimate moments. The girl had been asking Hariharan to marry her but in vain. Finally, when the girl decided to marry someone else, Hariharan threatened her by showing the video,” the police officer added.
Hariharan also sent the video to his friends, who began sexually assaulting her. “Hariharan continued to trouble her,” the officer added. The officer added that four men, including Hariharan and Junaid Ahmed, four children in conflict with the law were involved in the sexual assault case.
The shocking incident came to light after the victim called the women's helpline and complained about the sexual assault. After the initial inquiry, police booked eight persons on charges of rape under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“The Chief Minister has instructed that the investigation should be completed at the earliest and everyone involved in the incident should be punished. The CM has also said that the case should be water-tight that accused should get maximum punishment,” a statement from Tamil Nadu Police said.
The incident led to a political uproar with BJP chief K Annamalai seeking to know will Chief Minister M K Stalin insulate the local police from his party men’s tentacle hold.
“Shocked and saddened to learn about the gang rape of a 22-year-old woman in Virudhunagar by a group of men by allegedly blackmailing her over a video. What is more shocking is the involvement of a local DMK functionary in this shameful act with impunity,” he said.
He also said arresting these criminals is one thing but equally important is to improve the overall policing under DMK Government, which at present is “not giving the common people any confidence.”
DMK MP Kanimozhi said it is consoling that those involved in the Virudhunagar incident have been arrested. “Those involved, whoever they are, should be punished,” Kanimozhi said.
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