7 held for gang rape of 17-year-old in Tamil Nadu

The police started the investigation after the girl’s grandmother filed a missing person report at the Ukkadam police station on Sunday

Seven college students were on Tuesday arrested in connection with alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, police said, adding one of the accused was known to the survivor through social media.

The accused are in the age group of 19 and 20 and the victim is 17 years old. (HT FILE)

Coimbatore city police commissioner A Saravana Sundar said the girl, who lived with her grandmother, left home on Sunday morning claiming she was going to meet some friends. However, she did not return home till late on Sunday and her mobile phone remained switched off, following which her grandmother lodged a missing person’s complaint at the Ukkadam police station.

She returned home on Monday morning and informed the police that one of the accused, who had befriended her over social media, invited her to his rented home in Kuniyamuthur, where he and six of his friends gangraped her.

“We have lodged a case of gang rape under the protection of children from sexual offences (POCSO) Act. On Tuesday, all seven accused were arrested,” the commissioner said, adding the accused are aged 19 and 20.

They were produced before a court, which remanded them in the judicial custody.

The accused are in the age group of 19 and 20 and the victim is 17 years old, police said.

Coimbatore city police commissioner A Saravana Sundar said the accused were arrested, as the police acted promptly on the complaint filed by the grandmother.

“The girl was staying with her grandmother and her parents and siblings were away,” he said.

While various women’s groups in Coimbatore called for strict action against the students involved and urgent justice for the victim, the incident has sparked widespread outrage across the state, which has seen several serious crimes targeting women reported over the past month.

BJP state president K. Annamalai came down heavily on the ruling DMK for the increasing crimes against women in the state. “The Nirbhaya case shook the entire country. However, in Tamil Nadu, women—including girls, students, female police officers, and female government officials—face daily threats to their safety. The DMK government has not taken any action to combat drug trafficking or to ensure the safety of women,” he said in a post on X.

In Chennai, members of the student wing of the opposition party AIADMK held a significant protest, calling on the DMK government to put an end to the sexual crimes committed against female students and women in Tamil Nadu.

AIADMK national spokesperson Kovai Sathiyan said the demonstration aimed to awaken the DMK government from its “slumber” and demanded severe punishment for the perpetrators of these crimes.

“A senior police official was suspended last week for allegedly sexually harassing a female police constable,” he pointed out. Sathyan contended that the educational institutions in Tamil Nadu were becoming a “centre of sexual exploitation of children.”

He also recalled a recent incident in which a mathematics teacher sexually assaulted 43 school students.

In both Chennai and Coimbatore, AIADMK members, clad in black shirts and some blindfolded, raised slogans denouncing the state government and demanding justice for the victims.