Pollachi Sexual Assault Case: Life Terms for All Accused as CBI Probe Exposes Organised Racket

All nine accused in the sensitive Pollachi sexual assault case have been sentenced to life imprisonment after the Mahila Special Court in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, found them guilty of the heinous crimes of gang rape and extortion. There will be no remissions in their sentences.

The crime gained national attention after it came to light in 2019 that a gang of youngsters with strong political connections had coerced scores of college and school-going girls and women into sexual acts. These acts were videotaped and used to blackmail the victims for money and further sexual favours. The incidents had been taking place in and around Pollachi town since 2014, but surfaced only after one of the victims mustered the courage to file a complaint at the Pollachi East police station on February 24, 2019. Following public outrage, the case was transferred first to the CB-CID and later to the CBI.

On May 13, Judge R. Nandhini Devi found all nine accused—N. Sabarirajan (32), also known as Rishwanth; K. Thirunavukkarasu (34); M. Sathish (33); T. Vasanthakumar (30); R. Manivannan (32); P. Babu (33); T. Haronimus Paul (32); K. Arulanantham (39); and M. Arunkumar (33)—guilty. All of them hailed from Pollachi or nearby areas. Each accused was sentenced to a different number of life terms—one to five—all to run concurrently.

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Sections 376D (gang rape) and 376(2)(n) (repeated rape on the same woman) of the IPC, which were invoked against the accused, prescribe rigorous imprisonment of not less than 20 years and can extend to imprisonment for the remainder of the person’s natural life. In addition, the accused were charged under various other sections for criminal conspiracy, sexual harassment, abduction, disrobing, and rape, as well as under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Sexual Harassment of Women Act. The judge also ordered a total compensation of ₹85 lakh to be paid to the victims.

The CBI investigated the case and filed a 1,500-page charge sheet in which 48 witnesses, including eight girl victims, deposed. It submitted 200 documents and around 350 electronic documents and exhibits such as SIM cards, data and memory cards, laptops, mobiles and video clips. This evidence, CBI’s Special Prosecutor Surendra Mohan said, was analysed by forensic and digital experts, and corroborated the statements of witnesses, enabling the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused beyond any doubt.

“Not even one witness turned hostile,” said the CBI counsel. The victims were given psychological counselling to help them come forward and file their complaints against the accused, and they were protected under the Witness Protection Act. “It was a meticulously investigated case,” he added.

A case with many twists

The case was that Sabarirajan, based in Pollachi, would befriend young girls and women and lure them to a remote farmhouse, where they were sexually assaulted, often with others joining in. These assaults were videotaped and later used to blackmail the victims for money and further sexual favours. The victims were terrorised into silence, as the perpetrators, aged between 25 and 32, were politically well-connected. One of the accused, Arulanandam, who was then the AIADMK’s Pollachi Youth Wing Town Secretary, was arrested in 2021. The seizure of mobile phones belonging to Sabareesan and his associate Thirunavukkarasu revealed the scale of the well-organised sex and extortion racket. Despite the gravity of the offences, only one victim came forward to file a complaint. The Pollachi East Police, which registered the FIR based on her statement, reportedly tried to dilute the case and protect the accused.

Since then, a series of bizarre and troubling developments began to unfold. Victims were threatened, and the brother of the girl who first came forward to file the complaint was beaten up. Photographs of some of the accused posing with AIADMK Ministers were circulated in an apparent attempt to intimidate the victims. The government appointed a male officer as the Investigating Officer, which drew sharp criticism from civil society and the legal fraternity. The complainant’s identity, including her mobile number, was leaked into the public domain.

Another outrageous act followed: a Government Order (GO) dated March 13, 2019, issued by the Tamil Nadu Home Department in connection with the case, publicly revealed the name of the complainant, her college, and her brother’s name.

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These blatant violations of legal safeguards by the then government sparked a nationwide uproar. Almost all major political parties, including the DMK, the CPI, and the CPI(M), took to the streets demanding a fair investigation. The DMK made it a key issue in its election campaign. Under mounting public pressure, the case was transferred to the CB-CID 20 days after the FIR was filed. However, as tensions escalated, it was eventually handed over to the CBI.

The CBI was able to identify 12 girls as victims, but only eight agreed to come forward and file formal complaints. Despite the trauma and distress, all eight stood the trial with remarkable courage in their pursuit of justice. To ensure their safety, the accused were repeatedly denied bail. When a few of them challenged their detention under the Goondas Act in the Supreme Court, the State government strongly opposed their pleas, leading to the cancellation of their petitions. All the accused remained in Salem Central Prison for six years, which helped ensure the continued safety of the victims.