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The Pudukkottai police on Tuesday, May 19, arrested two men for allegedly abducting and gang raping a 35-year-old woman with speech-impairments near Karrambakudi in the district.
According to the police, the survivor, who works at a rice mill in a village around 10 kilometres from her hometown, was waiting at the Pachikottai Meghala Theatre bus stop on May 18, after returning from work.
Two men allegedly approached her in a car and offered to drop her home. They then took her to a secluded spot near a pond in Manakkollai village and sexually assaulted her. They abandoned her near Pillaiyar Kulam before fleeing the spot.
Hearing her cry, local residents rushed to help the woman and alerted the police. Based on preliminary investigation, the police identified the accused as Marimuthu (55), a daily wage worker from Manakkollai village, and Sekar (55), the owner and driver of the car used in the crime.
Following a complaint filed by the survivor’s mother, the police registered a case under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita including sexual assault and abduction, along with Section 92(b) (atrocities against persons with disabilities) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act.
Marimuthu was arrested within hours of the complaint and remanded to judicial custody. A special team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Brinda has been formed to trace and arrest him. He was later arrested from Dindigul on May 19 afternoon.
The survivor has been admitted to the government hospital in Pudukkottai for treatment.
