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The Mahila Court in Coimbatore on Tuesday, May 13, convicted nine men in the Pollachi sexual assault case that shook Tamil Nadu six years ago. Judge R Nandhini Devi passed the verdict, and the quantum of the sentence will be delivered by 12 pm on May 13. The men have been convicted for gang rape and rape. The prosecution has asked for the maximum punishment under these sections, the defence has said that all the accused are young and should not be given harsh punishment.
These nine men, led by the main accused, Sabarirajan alias Riswandh, had trapped several young women, videographed sexual acts and blackmailed them. The CBI, which investigated the case, identified 12 women from the videos and eight of them deposed in court. The first chargesheet was filed in May 2019, and a supplementary chargesheet was filed in August 2021 and 48 witnesses were examined.
The case came to light in February 2019 after a 19-year-old college student, Priya (name changed), filed a complaint with the police on charges of sexual harassment and blackmail.
Priya had been lured by her acquaintance, Sabarirajan alias Riswandh, to a bus stop under the pretence of a private conversation. When she arrived, she was forcibly taken in a car by Sabarirajan and his friend Thirunavukkarasu, along with Sathish and Vasanthkumar. The four men disrobed her inside the car, filmed the act, and stole her gold chain. They later used the video to blackmail her, demanding sexual favours and money.
While Priya kept silent about it initially due to fear, she told her family after repeated instances of extortion. The family filed a complaint with the police. During the investigation, the police found videos of other victims on the mobile phones and laptops of the accused.
They also identified that the videos were shot at Thirunavukkarasu’s farmhouse in Chinnappapalayam near Pollachi.
As the scope of the case expanded, it was taken over by the Crime Branch-CID. However, after widespread outrage regarding the handling of the case, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Nine men were arraigned as accused in the case: N Sabarirajan alias Rishwanth, K Thirunavukkarasu, M Sathish, T Vasanthakumar, R Mani alias Manivannan, P Babu, T Haronimus Paul, K Arulanantham, and M Arunkumar.
The investigation revealed that the gang had a pattern: one of the men, usually Riswanth, would lure women to secluded locations, where they were either coerced or assaulted while the acts were secretly recorded. If the women consented to sex, the men would still film the act without their knowledge and threaten to leak the footage unless the victims complied with further demands. In some videos, accomplices would barge in pretending to “rescue” the victim while the hidden camera continued rolling.
The case took a political turn when media reports and opposition figures alleged the involvement of high-ranking political leaders, including the sons of Tamil Nadu Deputy Speaker Pollachi Jayaraman. However, Jayaraman was supported by a survivor and her family, who said that Jayaraman had been supportive from the outset and had helped them navigate the legal process.
Arulanantham, who was the AIADMK Pollachi town students’ wing secretary, was expelled from the party a day after his arrest.
While the police suspect that the accused sexually assaulted and exploited several women, only eight of them testified in court.
Meanwhile, lapses by law enforcement, including Pollachi SP Pandiarajan publicly revealing the survivor’s identity, drew sharp criticism from civil society and political leaders. Videos of the victims were also circulated on WhatsApp.
