A two-member fact-finding committee of the National Commission for Women (NCW) arrived in Chennai, on Sunday, December 29, to probe the alleged sexual assault of a 19-year-old student at Anna University. The committee was constituted on December 28 by NCW chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar to investigate and recommend action.
The committee consists of NCW member Mamta Kumari and retired IPS officer Praveen Dixit, who formerly served as the Director General of Police (DGP) of Maharashtra and Special Rapporteur for Maharashtra and Goa in the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Praveen Dixit arrived in Chennai via an Indigo flight from Pune while Mamta Kumari arrived via an Indigo flight from Kolkata.
The committee will investigate the case, examine the circumstances leading to the incident, and assess the actions taken by the authorities, as per the statement. The committee will also interact with concerned officials, the victim, her family, friends, and various NGOs to ascertain the facts and propose measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
The Commission has taken a suo moto cognisance of an alleged sexual assault of a student at Anna University. It has already issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) regarding the incident.
On December 28, the Madras High Court ordered the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising three IPS officers to investigate the Anna University alleged sexual assault case.
A second-year student of Anna University was allegedly sexually assaulted on the Anna University campus on the night of December 23 and one person, who was later identified as Gnanasekaran, has been arrested in connection with the case. In her complaint to police, the student alleged that an unidentified man had threatened and sexually assaulted her when she was talking to her friend on campus on Monday around 8 pm.
Pulling up the Chennai Police for revealing the contents of the FIR on its website, including the rape survivor's identity, a bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and V Lakshminarayanan ordered the Tamil Nadu government to pay an interim compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the victim.