NDTV Explains | 9 Men, 8 Rape Survivors In The Pollachi Sex Assault Case

Chennai:

Nine men found guilty of the sexual assault and blackmail of several women in Tamil Nadu’s Pollachi were handed life terms, till death, by a court in Coimbatore Tuesday afternoon.

The court also ordered financial compensation of Rs 85 lakh to the women.

Earlier today the court convicted them of multiple charges, including rape, sexual harassment, criminal conspiracy, and blackmail, but the charges reflect only the public horror visited by these men.

There can be no understanding or redressal of the trauma inflicted on the women.

But what is perhaps all the more tragic is that India – which treats its women with disinterest at best and calculated violence at worst, and ‘shocks’ periodically with stories of stomach-churning rapes – ought by now to have some measure of understanding of that trauma.

The evidence since 2019 suggests otherwise; in 2020 a Dalit woman was gangraped and murdered in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, in 2021 a 15-year-old girl was raped multiple times, by multiple men, over nine months, in 2022 a 17-year-old girl was gangraped in Hyderabad.

These are just three of the hundreds that were documented. And there were, in all probability, hundreds and thousands more rapes and sexual harassment cases that were never reported.

The 2019 Pollachi Sex Assault Case

The police believe the Pollachi crimes – from sexual assault to rape and gang rape, blackmail, and theft – took place from 2016 to 2018 and were perpetrated on at least eight women.

The end began in February 2019, when a 19-year-old college student was conned into getting into a car, undressed, and raped. The attackers filmed the assault and tried to blackmail her.

She was not their first target – unconfirmed reports say there at least 60 – but she was their last.

The young woman reported the crime to her family. A police case was lodged and even initial inquiries revealed the awful nature and number of the crimes. The case was later handed to a special division of the state police force and, eventually, to a federal agency, the CBI.

The transfer to the CBI was after sustained pressure from the opposition and gender activists, including a passionate appeal from women lawyers who approached the Madras High Court.

The callous action of a state cop – who named the 19-year-old woman, in violation of well-established laws protecting the identity of sexual assault victims, also prompted the transfer.

In May the CBI filed its first chargesheet.

Five men were named – Sabarirajan alias Riswanth, K Thirunavukkarasau, T Vasanth Kumar, M Sathish, and R Mani. The first was a construction worker, the next two were money lenders, and the latter two were businessmen.

READ | 9 Arrested After 16-Year-Old Allegedly Sexually Abused In Pollachi

By January 2021 three more men were arrested, including K Arulanantham, a member of the then-ruling AIADMK, now the primary opposition, and whom the party promptly chucked out.

How Pollachi Sex Assault Gang Operated

The Central Bureau of Investigation uncovered a devious pattern of systemic abuse; from identifying targets on Facebook and insidiously befriending them, before filming their rape (sometimes there were multiple rapists) and then extoring sex by using the videos.

The misogyny at play was underlined in March 2019; a short video, allegedly a confession, by one of the men, the rapists excused their actions by claiming the women did not really mean ‘no’ when they screamed during the rape.

READ | In Pollachi Rape Case, Accused Describe How Women Were Targeted

“I kissed her (the 19-year-old college student) and she did not object. She said ‘no’ when I began stripping her, but I continued anyway, questioning how she could object to it when she said nothing to the kiss,” her attacker said in the video.

NDTV could not independently verify that video.

Authorities argued the gang had pre-set roles in each assault.

READ | CBI Files Chargesheet In Pollachi Case, Says Was “Organised Crime”

For example, Sabarirajan, an engineer, was held responsible for making contact and ‘winning their (the women’s) confidence. He was also the one who filmed every rape.

K Thirunavukarasu, meanwhile, was an MBA graduate and the ‘brains’ of the operation, while Satish and T Vasanth Kumar provided, the cops have said, logistical support.

The Pollachi Sex Assault Case Trial

Of the dozens of women who may have been targeted, only eight came forward to accuse their attackers, which is understandable given the stigma Indian society places on the survivors.

READ | Locals Blame Cops For Slow Progress In Pollachi Sex Abuse Case

But over 200 documents and 400 pieces of electronic evidence, including mobile phones with forensically-validated videos of the rapes, were used to convict the nine men.

Witnesses testifying on the prosecution’s behalf remained steadfast and their identities were maintained a secret under Witness Protection Act.

The Political Game

The Pollachi sex assault case sparked cover-up allegations against the AIADMK, which was accused of forcing the police to delay registering cases. The party denied these claims.

The DMK, now in power and then in the opposition, and actor Kamal Hassan’s MNM, ripped into their rival, also flagging rape cases in other parts of the state and weaponising the Pollachi rape case ahead of the 2021 Assembly poll. The AIADMK lost power after that election.

It is significant, possibly, that as the Pollachi case is finally settled, there are, again, elections in Tamil Nadu; the DMK will seek a second term heading the state government next year.

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