The rape that was drowned in the din of Jallikattu
January 14
The body of a 17-year-old pregnant girl was found in a well in Ariyalur. She had been gang raped by her boyfriend and his friends, and she was then thrown into a well with both her hands tied. The boyfriend, Manikandan had allegedly impregnated her and when she refused to get an abortion, he killed her. He belonged to the upper caste Vanniyar community and was also the Union Secretary of the Hindu Munnani. He had reportedly refused to marry the girl who was a Dalit.
Manikandan and his three friends confessed to their crime.
The assault of an innocent school going child
February 8
A seven-year-old girl from the southern suburb of Mugalivakkam in Chennai was allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered by her 22-year-old neighbour. They lived in the same apartment complex and he lured her into his home by promising to allow her to play with the puppy. As he attempted to assault her, the girl allegedly began screaming. In order to silence her, he closed her face with a blanket but she suffocated to death. He then took her body to a secluded spot and burnt it. The accused, Tushyant even pretended to search for the girl with other apartment dwellers once he came back. Police who examined CCTV footage, however, soon found out that he was behind the crime.
National shame: German tourist raped in Tamil Nadu
April 3
A 24-year-old female German tourist was allegedly raped while holidaying in Mahabalipuram. She was sleeping in a grove of casuarinas on the seashore off the East Coast Road, after taking a long walk. There were three men present when the incident took place but only one of them allegedly assaulted her. The woman managed to escape from the clutches of her assaulters and went back to her group. They then contacted the German Embassy in Delhi, which immediately briefed the TN police about the incident after which the Kancheepuram police swung into action.
The culprits are yet to be identified, let alone arrested.
Senior citizen not spared
April 25
Days after the Supreme Court awarded the death penalty to four people in the Nirbhaya rape case, a 17-year-old construction worker was booked, for allegedly raping and murdering a 63-year-old woman on April 25 in Avaraikulam village, in Kanyakumari district. The elderly woman had gone to meet a friend she regularly visits. When she was leaving, her friend told the the construction worker to drop the victim at a bus stand. He, however, took her to a nearby forest area instead and raped her.
The rapist has been remanded to a juvenile home in Tirunelveli.
Online sexual grooming: The latest menace
April 28
A 13-year-old girl from Tirupur was ensnared by a sexual predator, who she befriended on Facebook. He promised to marry the teenager and took her to Puducherry where he raped her in a lodge. He later left her there, following an argument. The lodge owner, then took advantage of the situation and raped the young girl again. She later managed to escape from the hotel and contact her parents. The two accused in the case have been arrested.