TW: Mention of sexual assault
Four police personnel, including a Sub-Inspector, have been arrested for sexually assaulting and threatening a minor girl inside a moving vehicle at Mukkombu, a popular tourist destination in Trichy of Tamil Nadu. The police also threatened a male friend who was with her. The alleged incident took place on October 4 when the girl visited the spot with her male friend who is 19-years-old.
According to the police, B Sasikumar, SI with Jeeyapuram police station and A Sitharthan, who works in the traffic wing of the same police station, along with J Prasad, a constable attached to Navalpattu police station and S Sankar Rajapandian of Thiruverumbur National Highway Patrol had gone to Mukkombu in a non-police vehicle in civilian dresses in the evening. They were allegedly in an inebriated condition and started questioning two couples, who were in Mukkombu dam. However, one of the couples ran away.
The four men then started questioning them, asking questions like whether they were selling ganja. They also physically assaulted the boy. Around 5 pm, they took the girl in the vehicle alone and sexually assaulted her for close to an hour. Reports said the act was videographed and the contact details of the duo were obtained by the police.
The police officers allowed them to leave after threatening to slap charges of peddling ganja if they dared to disclose the incident to anyone. They also threatened to inform their parents. The police had also allegedly asked her to meet the SI, whenever he summons her over phone, and threatened to foist cases under the NDPS Act if she fails to do so, according to the complaint.
Later, the duo reached Mukkombu outpost and informed police personnel of the incident. The police spotted the vehicle in which the four police personnel were travelling and stopped them for questioning. SI Sasikumar told them that they had questioned the couple over ganja sales. When the girl and her friend got into an argument with them, they were threatened again, following which they left the place.
However, they filed a complaint with the Jeeyapuram All Women Police Station (AWPS). Superintendent of Police Varunkumar ordered suspension of the four police personnel based on the complaint. Jeeyapuram AWPS booked the four under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506(i) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). They were arrested on October 5.