The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Anna University sexual assault case submitted its chargesheet to the Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Saidapet on February 24. The charge sheet includes electronic evidence, CCTV footage, and witness statements. The case will reportedly be transferred to a sessions court for trial, once the court accepts the chargesheet.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), the incident took place on December 23, 2024, where Gnanasekaran, a history-sheeter and road-side biryani vendor from Kotturpuram, allegedly sexually assaulted a student inside the Anna University campus and threatened her by recording videos of the assault. He was arrested by the Greater Chennai Police (GCP) on December 25.
Following a complaint from the survivor, the police registered a case under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) including section 63(a) (rape), Section 64(1) (punishment for rape), Sections 75(i)(ii) and 75(i)(iii) (sexual harassment). Additionally, he has been charged under Sections 67 and 67(A) of the Information Technology Act, that deal with publishing or transmitting obscene and sexually explicit material in electronic form.
On December 28, the Madras High Court bench comprising justices SM Subramaniam and V Lakshminarayan directed the formation of an three-member SIT to handle the case, which includes the IPS officers Bhukya Sneha Priya (Deputy Commissioner of Police, Anna Nagar), Ayman Jamal (DCP, Law and Order, Avadi), and S Brinda (DCP, Salem City - North).
The accused already has seven cases pending against him from between 2019 and 2024. He had previously been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 457 (lurking, house trespass, or housebreaking by night to commit an offence) and 380 (theft in a dwelling house).
Gnanasekaran has also been booked under the Goondas Act (Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug Offenders, Forest Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Slum Grabbers, and Video Pirates Act, 1982).
Meanwhile, the Pallikaranai police produced him before the Alandur Magistrate Court on February 24 after the completion of a three-day custodial interrogation in connection with the seven other cases reported. He reportedly confessed that he had stolen vehicles, including a car and an autorickshaw, from houses in the city. The court sent him back to judicial custody for 15 days.