The Madras High Court has issued notice in a PIL calling for a court-monitored probe into the Pollachi sexual assault and extortion case..The First Bench of Chief Justice VK Tahilramani and Justice M Duraiswamy issued notice today in the plea filed by Advocate P Pugalendhi through Advocate M Verti Selvan..The plea contends that a court-monitored probe is warranted, given the careless handling of the case by the Tamil Nadu government, which has effectively prevented victims of sexual assault in the case from approaching the police. In view of the same, and given that the state has also admitted that the nature of the crime is extremely serious, Pugalendhi argues that the investigation deserves to be monitored by the High Court..In February this year, news broke about a gang in Pollachi and Coimbatore, which had blackmailed and raped hundreds of women, including college-going students. As per reports, the gang would contact the women using fake social media accounts and lure them into meetings, where the women were sexually molested and recorded on camera. The video recordings were used to further blackmail them..The racket came to light after the brother of a survivor lodged a police complaint on behalf of his sister. The case assumed political overtones after the brother was reportedly attacked for having lodged the complaint by a group of persons including a youth wing member of the ruling AIADMK party, who was expelled from the party shortly after that..Videos featuring blurred visuals of women pleading with their assailants to let them go while being subjected to sexual molestation also surfaced on social media. While making arrests in the case, the police recovered mobile phones with similar videos from the accused. Four persons arrested in the case are presently in judicial custody..Amidst public outcry, the Coimbatore Superintendent of Police, R Pandiarajan revealed the names of the survivor and her brother during a press conference. Even as the police faced public criticism for the same, the Tamil Nadu government revealed the survivor’s name, as well as the college she studied in, in an order transferring the Pollachi sexual assault case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)..Objecting to the same, Pugalendhi’s petition states,.“… it is unfortunate that respondent no. 1- State of Tamil Nadu has ignored the fundamentals of justice and disclosed the name of the victim of sexual assault thereby preventing other victims from lodging such complaints with the police….The Supreme Court has vide its order…in Nipun Saxena & And v Union of India & ors, while dealing with offences against women and children, held: .‘No person can print or publish in print, electronic, social media, etc. the name of the victim or even in remote manner disclose any facts which can lead to the victim being identified and which should make her identity known to the public at large.‘.…The act of the…State of Tamil Nadu of disclosing the name of the victim in their order has effectively prevented other victims of sexual assault from lodging any…complaint with the police.”.A similar plea had been filed earlier calling for the Court’s intervention, given the sensitivity of the case. However, the Court had declined to intervene at the time, as the case had been transferred to the CBI..However, more public criticism followed after the Tamil Nadu government revealed the survivor’s identity in its order transferring the case to the CBI. Earlier this month, the Madurai Bench of the High Court also ordered that a fresh GO be issued instead, without revealing the identity of the survivor. The Bench had also directed that the state government pay a sum of Rs 25 lakh to the survivor as compensation for having disclosed her name..The controversy surrounding the case has also prompted two lawyers to file a plea for a Supreme Court-monitored probe in the matter. The plea, which is pending before the Supreme Court, also calls for transferring the trial outside Tamil Nadu and the issuance of directions to prevent a media trial in the case..Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.
The Madras High Court has issued notice in a PIL calling for a court-monitored probe into the Pollachi sexual assault and extortion case..The First Bench of Chief Justice VK Tahilramani and Justice M Duraiswamy issued notice today in the plea filed by Advocate P Pugalendhi through Advocate M Verti Selvan..The plea contends that a court-monitored probe is warranted, given the careless handling of the case by the Tamil Nadu government, which has effectively prevented victims of sexual assault in the case from approaching the police. In view of the same, and given that the state has also admitted that the nature of the crime is extremely serious, Pugalendhi argues that the investigation deserves to be monitored by the High Court..In February this year, news broke about a gang in Pollachi and Coimbatore, which had blackmailed and raped hundreds of women, including college-going students. As per reports, the gang would contact the women using fake social media accounts and lure them into meetings, where the women were sexually molested and recorded on camera. The video recordings were used to further blackmail them..The racket came to light after the brother of a survivor lodged a police complaint on behalf of his sister. The case assumed political overtones after the brother was reportedly attacked for having lodged the complaint by a group of persons including a youth wing member of the ruling AIADMK party, who was expelled from the party shortly after that..Videos featuring blurred visuals of women pleading with their assailants to let them go while being subjected to sexual molestation also surfaced on social media. While making arrests in the case, the police recovered mobile phones with similar videos from the accused. Four persons arrested in the case are presently in judicial custody..Amidst public outcry, the Coimbatore Superintendent of Police, R Pandiarajan revealed the names of the survivor and her brother during a press conference. Even as the police faced public criticism for the same, the Tamil Nadu government revealed the survivor’s name, as well as the college she studied in, in an order transferring the Pollachi sexual assault case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)..Objecting to the same, Pugalendhi’s petition states,.“… it is unfortunate that respondent no. 1- State of Tamil Nadu has ignored the fundamentals of justice and disclosed the name of the victim of sexual assault thereby preventing other victims from lodging such complaints with the police….The Supreme Court has vide its order…in Nipun Saxena & And v Union of India & ors, while dealing with offences against women and children, held: .‘No person can print or publish in print, electronic, social media, etc. the name of the victim or even in remote manner disclose any facts which can lead to the victim being identified and which should make her identity known to the public at large.‘.…The act of the…State of Tamil Nadu of disclosing the name of the victim in their order has effectively prevented other victims of sexual assault from lodging any…complaint with the police.”.A similar plea had been filed earlier calling for the Court’s intervention, given the sensitivity of the case. However, the Court had declined to intervene at the time, as the case had been transferred to the CBI..However, more public criticism followed after the Tamil Nadu government revealed the survivor’s identity in its order transferring the case to the CBI. Earlier this month, the Madurai Bench of the High Court also ordered that a fresh GO be issued instead, without revealing the identity of the survivor. The Bench had also directed that the state government pay a sum of Rs 25 lakh to the survivor as compensation for having disclosed her name..The controversy surrounding the case has also prompted two lawyers to file a plea for a Supreme Court-monitored probe in the matter. The plea, which is pending before the Supreme Court, also calls for transferring the trial outside Tamil Nadu and the issuance of directions to prevent a media trial in the case..Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.
