The Madras High Court on August 11, Wednesday, directed the Coimbatore Women’s Court to have daily hearings in the infamous Pollachi sexual assault and extortion case and directed the case to be completed within six months. The bail plea filed by one of the accused, Arulanantham came up for hearing in the HC today, during which he asked the court to finish the trial and grant him bail as he has been lodged in jail for several months now.
The state government assured the Madras High Court that the state police was ready to extend all co-operation to expedite investigation of the case by appointing an officer of SP rank. Following this, Justice M. Dhandapani adjourned the judgment on Arulanantham's bail application without specifying a date.
In January this year, the CBI had arrested three more accused in connection with the sexual assault and extortion case. Arulanantham (34), Heron Paul (29) and Babu (30) were the ones who were arrested. Arulanantham was the Pollachi town secretary of the AIADMK student wing. These arrests were in addition to the four people, Sabarirajan, Thirunavukkarasu, Sathish and Vasanthkumar, who were already booked by the police.
In 2019, a 19-year-old woman had lodged a complaint that four men forcibly removed her clothes in a car and video-graphed the act. The woman’s complaint revealed a larger sexual assault and extortion racket. The police believed that many women may have been victims of sexual assault by a close network of men. A case was registered against the four men who had assaulted the woman.
The four men were charge sheeted under sections 354A (sexual harassment), 354B (assault or use of criminal force against woman with intent to disrobe), and 394 (robbery) of the IPC; section 66E of the IT Act (violation of privacy); and section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Sexual Harassment of Women Act (sexual harassment).
Apart from the four men, a fifth person, R Manivannan, was also arrested later as he confessed to have raped a ‘few women’ along with the other four men. Manivannan who is known locally as Manu had surrendered before the chief judicial magistrate’s court in Coimbatore in March the same year.
When public protest grew about alleged police inaction, the Tamil Nadu government transferred the case to the CBI after Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit gave his nod the same. On April 28, 2019 the CBI began investigating the case. The first chargesheet was filed within a month after the CBI took up the investigation.