Chennai: The Tamilnadu government today formally handed over the Pollachi sexual assault case to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
A notification from the Home department stated that the decision was consented by the Governor of Tamilnadu Banwarilal Purohit under section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.
The order permitted the extension of powers and jurisdiction to members of the Delhi Special Police Establishment in the whole of Tamilnadu.
“The Director General of Police T K Rajendran wanted the CBI to take over the case since the technical issues including analysing of Facebook data I.P.Logs/addresses and internet usage logs; the communication with Facebook service providers and other internet service providing places in various countries. Nature of the crime is extremely serious and thereby demanding some specialised attention and requires more labourous and dedicated investigation with technical expertise,” it said.
The case pertains to sexual abuse of more than 50 women in Pollachi by a group of men. Four accused persons in the case were arrested last month and Goondas Act was slapped against them a couple of days ago. The incident came to light after one of the victims came forward and lodged a complaint.
Meanwhile, in order to encourage more victims to come forward to file complaint, the Tamilnadu State Women Commission launched two helpline numbers: 044-28551155 and 044-2859 2750. “This will help more women who were trapped and abused to lodge complaints and their identities will be protected,” officials said.
This morning, a group of women advocates approached the Madras High Court requesting the Chief Justice V K Tahilramani to monitor the investigation by the CBI. However, the request was declined.
In the meantime, hundreds of college students, lawyers and members of women’s organisations took to the streets of Pollachi and other parts of Tamilnadu demanding action against the accused. Students boycotted classes and staged sit-ins demanding stringent punishment. Some institutes suspended classes for the day fearing break-out of violence. The four accused men under police custody are Thirunavukkarasu, Sathish, Sabarirajan and Vasanthakumar.