Chennai:
A sessions court in Coimbatore has convicted all nine men accused of sexually assaulting several women back in 2019 in Tamil Nadu’s Pollachi, the trial for which had gripped massive public attention. The punishment will be pronounced at noon. The prosecution has sought life sentences for the convicts.
The convicts are Sabarirajan alias Rishwanth, 32, Thirunavukarasu, 34, T Vasantha Kumar, 30, M Sathish 33, R. Mani alias Manivannan, P Babu, 33, Haron Paul, 32, Arulanantham, 39, and Arun Kumar, 33.
They have been in judicial custody since their arrest in 2019.
The convicts had sexually assaulted at least nine women, including a college student, and allegedly blackmailed them for further exploitation and cash. They were charged with the stringent sections of the Indian Penal Code, including rape, gang rape, repeated rape of the same survivor, criminal conspiracy, sexual harassment, and blackmail.
Investigators revealed that the crimes occurred between 2016 and 2018, during which the accused allegedly filmed sexual assaults and used the footage to coerce victims into continued exploitation.
The case, initially probed by the Pollachi police, was first transferred to the Tamil Nadu Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID), and later to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) amid demands for an impartial inquiry.
During its probe, the CBI uncovered a pattern of systemic abuse, with survivors alleging threats of leaking videos to their families and communities if they refused compliance.