There is no respite for women and children, including schoolchildren, from sexual predators in Tamil Nadu. The TN government has been making tall claims that the state is a role model for others and an enviable one. The ground reality is far from its claims. The DMK is more focused on commenting political issues of other states and Bihar elections.
The Organiser has been making a series of reports bringing out the sexual assaults in the state and the worsening law and order situation. CM M. K. Stalin, who holds the Home portfolio, is oblivious to the happenings in the state, including lock-up deaths, suicides of police personnel, and the resignation of honest officers unable to bear pressure from seniors and political interference. He is more bothered about the happenings in faraway states.
In the latest incident, three girls studying in a government school at Kinathukkadavu block of Coimbatore district have complained of sexual harassment against two teachers. Their allegations appeared in two videos circulated on social media platforms on August 22. The girls, with their faces masked, said two male teachers touched girl students inappropriately and looked at them with bad intent. The girls said that their music teacher touched them inappropriately during dance practices. The botany teacher also touched them inappropriately on the pretext of patting them as a token of encouragement. They also accused another male teacher of coming to school under the influence of alcohol.
The girls said they chose social media to share their ordeals as the school authorities did not act on their complaints. They said, “We did not inform our parents about this. We fear our schooling would be discontinued.”
According to media reports, the girls, in a separate audio clipping to a journalist, claiming to be a student of 10 th standard, had warned her of the behaviour of two male teachers. The Coimbatore District (Rural) police and the School Education Department have launched an investigation into the allegations of the girls. They spoke to 50 per cent of the girl students and recorded their statements on the August 21.
In another incident, Maths teacher William Paulraj (51), working in a government-aided school in Kunnathur in Pudukkottai district, was arrested for sexually assaulting students. It is learnt that the teacher had sexually harassed a 12th standard student. Following complaints from the girl, the district child welfare officials conducted inquiries. Based on a complaint from them, police have now arrested William Paulraj under POCSO.
On August 22, the Anti-Vice Squad of the Chennai police arrested three persons, including a supporting actress, for allegedly forcing a 15-year-old girl into prostitution. Police received information that a gang was exploiting a minor girl at a hotel on 100 Feet Road in Koyambedu. A team conducted a search at the hotel and found the 15-year-old girl locked in a side room and rescued her. The minor had been left alone after her father died and her mother remarried and moved away. Police arrested A. Anjalai (31), who took the girl into her custody and subsequently forced her into prostitution. The other members of the gang are N. Nagamma (45), who worked as a supporting actress, and Nagaraj (46), both from Guntur in Andhra Pradesh.
Chennai police arrested 25-year-old Lakshman for barging into a women’s hostel in Velachery and sexually harassing an inmate on the afternoon of the August 22 when the girl was sleeping. The woman woke up to see a stranger sitting beside her and touching her inappropriately. She screamed for help, and the intruder fled the scene. Police registered a case and are investigating. They examined the CCTV footage and arrested Lakshman, who lived in the same area, for sexual harassment.
Police arrested a principal of a private school in Dharmapuri under the POCSO Act for sexually assaulting a 9th standard student. It is learnt that he sexually assaulted the student and made inappropriate remarks towards her. The student told her parents, who filed a complaint. Police found sexually suggestive messages from the principal on her phone. He absconded on the night of the August 22 but was arrested the next day.
Critics say these are disturbing issues in Tamil Nadu, and they show that the lack of proper attitude of police personnel towards perpetrators might have emboldened them to commit serious crimes, as offences against women and children are on the increase in the state.
