On February 24, a 19-year-old woman from Pollachi in Tamil Nadu registered a complaint of sexual assault against multiple men.

The four men – Thirunavakkarasu, Sathish, Sabariraj and Vasanthkumar – have since been arrested and charged under the Goondas Act.

Their modus operandi involved befriending the women on Facebook, forcing them to meet in person, and then harassing them in moving vehicles, hotels or farmhouses.

AIADMK had earlier sacked one of its local leaders in Pollachi named A Nagaraj. He had attacked the college girl’s brother for beating up the men who assaulted her.
It is an offence to reveal the identity of victims of rape and sexual assault. Police delayed the arrest of the accused and leaked the names of the victims to stop more women from lodging complaints against the perpetrators. The accused had been sexually abusing women from 2012. So, police should reinvestigate cases of female suicides reported from Pollachi and surrounding areas from 2012.
The case is now being transferred to the CBI. Further investigations are underway to know the full extent of the crimes.