Chennai, May 13 (UNI) In a landmark ruling, all the nine accused were awarded life imprisonment
till death in the sensational Pollachi sexual assault case by a Mahila Court in Coimbatore on Tuesday.
Judge R. Nandhini Devi pronounced the verdict in camera at the Special Court set up for the trial
of the 2019 case.
After convicting all the accused earlier in the day, the Judge pronounced the sentence past noon, awarding life sentence until their death to all of them.
The accused were N. Sabarirajan alias Rishwanth (32), K. Thirunavukkarasu (34) , M.Sathish (33),
T. Vasanthakumar (30), R. Mani alias Manivannan (32) P. Babu (33), T. Haronimus Paul (32),
K.Arulanantham (39) and M.Arunkumar (33).
The CBI which probed the case had arraigned the nine accused on multiple charges, including
criminal conspiracy, sexual harassment, rape, gang rape, and repeated rape of the same woman.
They were also charged with blackmailing the victims for sexual favours.
A total of eight women have given statements against the accused, including the first complainant,
a 19-year-old college student, who brought the horrific incidents to light.
The sexual assault took place between 2016 and 2018.
All the accused, who are lodged in the Salem Central Prison, were escorted to the court amid tight
security and produced before the Judge when the verdict was delivered.
The Judge said all the nine accused were awarded life under Sections 376D (gang rape) and
376(2)(n) (repeated rape on the same woman) of the IPC.
The court has awarded a total compensation of Rs 85 lakhs to the eight victims (each will receive
a compensation ranging from Rs 10 lakhs to Rs 15 lakhs).
The court had convicted the accused and awarded punishment based on the gravity and nature of
the offence,” CBI Public Prosecutor Surendra Mohan said.
Each of the accused was slapped with a fine ranging from Rs 30,000 to 40,000, which comes to around 1.5 lakh for all the nine accused.
Welcoming the verdict, the All India Democratic Women's Organiation members distributed sweets
while the people of Pollachi broke into celebrations by bursting crackers and distributing sweets.
The accused were found guilty of sexually assaulting and exploiting a woman, while also creating videos of the horrific acts and blackmailing her.
The incident, which took place in 2019, shocked the entire state of Tamil Nadu. The victim courageously came forward to expose the brutal acts of the accused, who were part of a larger
gang involved in similar assaults on multiple women over the years.
The gang lured the women under false pretenses, filmed their assaults, and used the footage to blackmail them into silence.
Acting on student's complaint, the police uncovered a horrifying network of exploitation, where the accused had allegedly assaulted several women over a span of many years.
UNI GV 1530