Pollachi sexual assault case: TN court awards life term to 9

In a landmark judgment in Sexual assault case which took place at Pollachi (Tamil Nadu) in the year 2019, the Court convicted all the 9 charge sheeted accused under various sections of law for sexual assaults, including gang rape of 8 victims. This case was entrusted to CBI after big uproar in the year 2019. After investigation a total of 3 chargesheets were filed against 9 accused persons. A total of 48 witnesses and 206 documents were examined. The nine men from Pollachi were arrested for blackmailing, sexually assaulting, and videographing eight young girls and women between 2016 and 2018. The accused were prosecuted for multiple offences.
On February 24, 2019, a college girl lodged a complaint with the Pollachi East police, alleging sexual abuse by four men in a moving car near Pollachi. The 19-year-old was the first victim to speak up against the accused, who were allegedly luring women and sexually assaulting them since 2016. They also filmed the sexual acts, which they later used for further sexual exploitation. This case was entrusted to the CBI after a big uproar in 2019. 
According to a CBI statement, the investigation of this sensitive case was conducted by CBI with extreme care and in a scientific manner, painstakingly collecting all the scientific evidence during investigation. “All the 8 victims were given adequate emotional and moral support by CBI both during investigation and during the trial proceedings which was conducted in a specially designated Court in order to ensure that the privacy and identification of the victims were not breached. Witnesses were also properly given protection and it is pertinent to mention that not a single witness turned hostile,” the CBI statement said.
All accused have been awarded with a sentence of life till death. They have been awarded sentences for other offences too. Judge R Nandhini Devi, who pronounced the quantum of punishment, ordered an overall compensation of Rs 85 lakh to the eight women victims by District Legal Aid Authority, according to the statement.  The nine men were accused of criminal conspiracy, sexual harassment, rape, gang rape, and extortion, in the series of incidents including blackmail. The nine accused-- Rishwanth alias N Sabarirajan, K Thirunavukkarasu, M Sathish, T Vasanthakumar, R Manivannan alias Mani, P Babu alias 'Bike' Babu, K Arulanantham, T Haronimus Paul, and M Arunkumar - all aged between 30 and 39 - were brought to the court from the Salem Central Prison earlier in the day amidst tight security.