Based on the complaint filed by the 21-year-old student's father, two of the accused were arrested, and the police are identifying the remaining suspects.
Published Dec 09, 2024 | 2:40 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 09, 2024 | 2:40 PM
Sexual harassment. Representative Image. (iStock)
The Tamil Nadu police have registered a case against nine people for allegedly sexually assaulting a mentally challenged college student in Chennai for over a year.
Based on the complaint filed by the 21-year-old student’s father, two of the accused were arrested on Saturday, 7 December, and the police are identifying the remaining suspects.
According to police sources, several people sexually assaulted the woman, who is a final-year undergraduate student at a women’s college in Chennai.
The father of the girl filed a complaint with the Ayanavaram All Women Police Station. However, as the student’s college was near the station, they were advised to lodge a complaint at the All Women Police Station in Chindathiripet. Accordingly, the father filed the complaint.
He filed the complaint after the woman revealed to him that some people took her outside the college gate and raped her several times.
When the police officers inquired with the student, she said that Naresh, Suresh, and Seenu, whom she had met through a college friend in October last year, took her to private lodges in the Yanikauni and Periyamedu areas and sexually assaulted her multiple times.
She said that Kavi from Tirupur, Roshan from Coimbatore, Pandi from Ambattur, and Mani from Tiruthani, whom she met through social media app Snapchat, also took her to these lodges and assaulted her.
Police reports indicate the victim experienced physical ailments following the assaults.
Last month, the father filed a complaint at the Ayanavaram All Women Police Station upon finding obscene text messages and unwanted calls received on her mobile number. However, he withdrew the complaint saying that his daughter had a semester examination so there was no need for an investigation.
Based on the statement given by the student, the police registered a case against eight people under eight Sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and one section of the Information Technology Act, including charges of abduction, inappropriate touch and outraging the modesty of a woman.
The student’s friend has also been accused of complicity in the crime. Further information regarding the case would be known only after a thorough investigation, said police sources.
“The allegation that a mentally challenged college student was sexually harassed by more than ten people for over a year in Chennai’s Ayanavaram is shocking. Based on the complaint filed by the affected student’s father, two accused have been arrested and the police are conducting intensive investigations to identify others involved,” the Chennai police said.
They said four special forces have been formed and an investigation is ongoing.
The incident is similar to the one in 2018 when a mentally disabled girl was sexually assaulted by a gang of 17 people in Ayanavaram.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil with inputs from K Nitika Shivani.)
