Rape, cheating cases filed against missing activist Mugilan

TRICHY: The case regarding activist RS Mugilan’s missing took a different turn on Sunday after a woman from Namakkal lodged a police complaint of sexual exploitation against him.

The 37-year-old woman told officers at Kulithalai all-woman police station in Karur district that she was closely associated with Mugilan in his various protests and he forced her for sex by giving false promise of marriage.

Following her complaint, Kulithalai AWPS booked Mugilan under three different sections including, section 417 of IPC for cheating under the pretext of marriage and section 376 for rape.

Coordinator of Tamil Nadu Environmental protection movement Mugilan went missing from mid-February this year when he was travelling in a train to Madurai from Chennai. The incident happened a day after he released a video in a press meet in Chennai on the alleged orchestration of the police firing against anti-Sterlite protestors in Tuticorin.

The woman said in her complaint that she was attracted towards Mugilan seeing him fighting for good causes and started taking part in his protests.

Recalling an incident in February 2017, during a protest at Neduvasal against the hydrocarbon project, she said that she had to stay in a lodge with him where he forced her to have sex in the pretext of marriage. Saying that he exploited her sexually on several occasions and failed to keep his promise, she urged police to take action against him for cheating her.

The woman is staying alone in Kulithalai after her parents raised objection to her association with Mugilan. About three months ago, her parents had petitioned Karur collector that she was captivated by Mugilan and sought her release.

However, the woman met the press and declared that Mugilan has not captivated her and she is staying in Kulithalai on her own. Police are unable to trace Mugilan who is missing since February.