They allegedly videographed the incident, and threatened to make the visuals public if the girl refused to visit them whenever they called her.
FIR was registered under 18 sections of the POCSO Act, Information Technology Act. and Indian Penal Code. All four policemen were placed under suspension and were remanded.
Four policemen, including a sub-inspector, were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor girl at Mukkombu, a popular tourist spot located a few kilometres from Tiruchi on Thursday, 5 October, evening.
The accused have been identified as B Sasikumar (28), sub-inspector of Jeeyapuram police station (Special Wing), constables S Sankar Rajapandian (32) and J Prasad (26), both attached to the highway patrol unit of the Navalpat station, and A Sitharthan (30) of the Jeeyapuram traffic police station.
It has been alleged that the policemen in civil dress videographed the incident and threatened the girl on Wednesday.
An FIR was registered under relevant sections of the POCSO Act, Information Technology Act, and the Indian Penal Code. All four policemen were suspended from service and remanded in judicial custody.
On Wednesday evening, the 17-year-old girl visited the tourist spot with her friend. They were sitting under a tree, while the policemen were reportedly consuming liquor nearby.
On noticing the boy and girl, two constables approached them and questioned if their families were aware of their visit. Under the guise of inquiry, the cops got their phone number. The policemen in civvies assaulted the boy and took him away.
Another policeman took the girl to a car saying that the sub-inspector wanted to speak to her.
The girl was allegedly forced into the car in which she was sexually assaulted by two policemen. Further, the incident was videographed on a mobile phone and they threatened to make the visuals public if she refused to visit them whenever they summoned her.
Later, the boy and the girl approached the police outpost at the tourist spot and narrated the incident. Meanwhile, the accused four policemen followed them to the outpost.
Sasikumar threatened to jail the duo if they did not leave. The constables manning the outpost reportedly did not take a complaint since the sub-inspector was involved.
However, on learning about the incident, Tiruchi Superintendent of Police SP Varun Kumar ordered a detailed probe.
Additional SP Gopalachandran visited Mukkombu on Thursday, 5 October, interacted with the policemen at the outpost, and checked the CCTV footage, which confirmed the presence of the boy, the girl, and the four policemen.
Meanwhile, another team of police headed by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kuthralalingam traced the girl with the help of the photographs obtained through CCTV footage. The team learnt that the girl was subjected to sexual assault. A report was submitted to the SP, following which the policemen were suspended.
The girl complained to the Jeeyarpuram All-Women Police, and all four policemen were arrested.
Sasikumar, who was arrested, was a direct recruit. He cleared the SI exams in 2021 and, after training, was posted in Jeeyarpuram police station 10 months ago.
Constables Prasad and Sitharthan belonged to Kurinjippadi village in the Cuddalore district and were neighbours. Sankar Rajapandian hails from the Pudukottai district.
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