9 accused in 2019 Pollachi sexual abuse case life imprisoned
What's the story
In a major development, a Coimbatore Special Court has convicted all nine accused in the 2019 Pollachi sexual abuse case.
The verdict was announced by Justice Nandhini Devi of the Mahila Special Court.
The accused had allegedly lured women into making false friendships, then sexually abused them and blackmailed them between 2016 and 2018.
The judge ordered life sentences for all nine convicts.
Public response
Case sparked widespread outrage across Tamil Nadu
The Pollachi sexual abuse case came to light after one of the survivors filed a complaint of theft.
Investigation later revealed a larger organized sexual abuse racket.
The revelation caused widespread outrage in Tamil Nadu, as videos of the assaults went viral and triggered protests against the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party at the time.
Investigation shift
CBI took over investigation amid public pressure
Initially, the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) was in charge of the investigation.
However, increasing public pressure later led to the case being transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The government's lawyer presented over 50 witnesses, more than 200 documents, and 400 pieces of digital evidence during the trial.
Eight survivors testified in court, while the accused answered 50 questions in writing.
Racket revealed
The modus operandi of the accused
The case pertains to a gang of men who would lure women to isolated spots on pretext and then sexually assault them, while their aides filmed the act.
If the meeting was consensual, they would threaten to upload such videos online if the victims didn't fulfill their demands of sexual favors and money.
Per News Minute, in all the videos, the door of the room was kept open so other members of the gang could take pictures and videos.
Arrests made
Accused members were identified and arrested
The nine men accused in the case include N. Sabarirajan aka Rishwanth, K. Thirunavukkarasu, M. Sathish, T. Vasanthakumar, R. Mani aka Manivannan, P. Babu, T Haronimus Paul, K Arulanantham and M Arunkumar.