Pollachi sexual assault case: All nine accused produced before Coimbatore Mahila Court for CrPC 313 questioning

Nine accused in the 2019 Pollachi sexual assault case questioned in court under Section 313 of CrPC.

All nine accused in the 2019 Pollachi sexual assault case were produced before the Mahila Court in Coimbatore on Saturday for questioning under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), after prosecution evidence was submitted to the court a week ago.

The accused — N. Rishwanth, alias Sabarirajan, 28; K. Thirunavukkarasu, 30; N. Sathish, 32; T. Vasanthakumar, 27; R. Manivannan, alias Mani, 33; K. Arulanantham, 36; P. Babu, alias ‘Bike’ Babu, 29; Haronimus Paul, 31; and M. Arunkumar, 31 — were brought to the court from Salem Central Prison.

They were produced before Judge R. Nandhinidevi in a courtroom that was set up exclusively for the trial, which began on February 24, 2023.

Sources said that each of the nine accused were asked around 200 questions, based on the evidence presented by the prosecution.

The proceedings, which began on Saturday morning, continued till late in the evening.

The questioning was held in-camera.

The case, which has been under investigation since 2019, involves serious allegations. It pertains to claims that the accused sexually assaulted several women, recorded the acts without consent, and used the videos to extort sexual favours and money.