A distressing case of alleged gang rape has been reported in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, involving a nineteen-year-old university student on Sunday night, behind the airport area. According to police accounts, the young woman was in a car with a friend when three men approached them. They reportedly assaulted her friend, abducted the woman, and then drove off.
The friend immediately raised the alarm with the authorities, prompting a police search operation. Officers eventually located the woman, who was unconscious. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she is receiving treatment.
Sources indicate that the alleged perpetrators had stolen a motorbike earlier on Sunday before committing the offence. The woman was reportedly taken to a remote location where the sexual assault took place.
The police have established seven special teams to track down and apprehend the culprits.
Reacting to the incident, K Annamalai, the former Tamil Nadu BJP president, asserted that the case reflects the failure of the DMK government to ensure the safety of women. In a post on X, he described the attack as "deeply shocking" and wished for the survivor's swift recovery. He, further, said in the post, “Since the DMK government came to power in Tamil Nadu, incidents like this series of crimes against women clearly show that anti-social elements have absolutely no fear of the law or the police.”
Annamalai further claimed that there is a "clear tendency to protect sexual offenders" within the ruling administration and accused the DMK government of deploying police resources to target critics rather than uphold public safety. He insisted that the Chief Minister "should hang his head in shame" over the condition of law and order in state.
This comes alongside a separate incident from February of this year, in which seven university students were arrested under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for allegedly sexually assaulting a seventeen-year-old girl.
The students, who attended a private college in Kuniyamuthur, had connected with the minor via a social media application. Her family reported her missing when she did not return home after arranging to meet one of them.
The girl was later found and alleged that she had been assaulted by the students. Police subsequently arrested all seven individuals, who were then placed in judicial custody.
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