CB-CID alters Pollachi sexual assault case into rape against five accused

Coimbatore: The CB-CID has altered the Pollachi sexual assault case into a rape case by invoking Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code against the five accused. On February 24, the Pollachi Town police filed the case under Sections 354 (A) (punishment for sexual harassment) and 354 (B) of the IPC, Section 66 (E) of the IT Act and Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women (TNPHW) Act. The case was taken up by the CB-CID which altered it into a rape case on April 5. It is preparing to submit the preliminary chargesheet. If the case is proved, the accused can get life imprisonment.
According to CB-CID sources, R Manivannan, 30, of Aachipatti near Pollachi, who surrendered before the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) court in Coimbatore on March 25, 2019, was taken into seven-day police custody. He confessed that he raped a few women along with K Thirunavukkarasu, 26, of Makkinampatti near Pollachi, N Sabarirajan, 25, of Jothi Nagar in Pollachi, N Sathish, 29, of Suleeswaranpatti near Pollachi, and T Vasanthakumar, of Pakkothipalayam near Pollachi. He told police that they had taken videos of themselves committing the rape. Following his confession, he was included in the case.
“We have verified the obscene videographs and the five accused involved in the rape. We have recorded statements of the victims also. Based on the evidence, we slapped Section 376 of the IPC against the five people. A detailed probe is going on,” said sources from the CB-CID.
The case was initially registered against four persons, excluding Manivannan, and it was investigated by the Pollachi Town police on February 24, 2019, for sexually harassing a 19-year-old girl at Makkinampatti in Pollachi. Under Sections 354 (A) and 354 (B) of the IPC the accused could get only up to five years imprisonment. After the case was transferred to CB-CID, Coimbatore, officials, under the supervision of Nisha Parthiban, superintendent of police, CB-CID, have been conducting the investigations.