It was the grit and courage of a 19-year-old girl, a college student, that exposed a gang of nine predatory sexual offenders based in Pollachi, who targeted several women from lower socio-economic backgrounds between 2016 and 2018.
According to investigators, N. Sabarirajan alias Rishwanth had befriended the girl and asked her to come with him for a drive on February 12, 2019. While K. Thirunavukkarasu drove the car on Dharapuram Road, Sabarirajan sexually abused her. M. Sathish and T. Vasanthakumar joined them midway.
Sathish filmed the act on a mobile phone. They later used the footage to blackmail her. The four men had also robbed her of a gold chain.
“The accused followed the modus operandi of sexually assaulting the victims and filming the act for blackmail. The girl told her family members about the incident after some days, following which a complaint was lodged at the Pollachi East police station on February 24, 2019, which exposed the gang,” said V. Surendra Mohan, Public Prosecutor of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case. The investigation by the local police, later by the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department and then by the CBI, led to the arrests of five more members of the gang — R. Mani alias Manivannan, P. Babu, T. Haronimus Paul, K. Arulanantham, and M. Arunkumar. “The 19-year-old student is believed to be the last victim targeted by the gang. She bravely came forward and exposed the gang,” Mr. Mohan added.
Investigators were shocked to find numerous videos of sexual assaults, sexual acts, and porn videos downloaded from the web in the electronic gadgets of the nine men, mainly from a mobile phone of Thirunavukkarasu and a laptop of Sabarirajan. These videos later helped the police and the CBI identify the offenders and survivors.
“The men were primarily driven by carnal pleasure, which eventually led them to sexually assault women and blackmail them into letting them repeat the offence,” said one of the former investigators.
Published – May 14, 2025 12:27 am IST