The Madras High Court has issued notice in a Public Interest Litigation seeking the issuance of directions to create a safe environment for the survivors of the Pollachi sexual assault and extortion case.

The petition these was filed by six women lawyers of the Madras High Court to counter the hostile environment created by the state authorities so far in responding to the Pollachi case.

The petition of these women lawyers was admitted on Friday by the First Bench of Chief Justice VK Tahilramani and Justice M Duraiswamy after hearing submissions made by Senior Advocate R Vaigai on behalf of petitioners advocates G Chamki Raj, A Arulmozhi, BS Ajeetha, Adhilakshmi Logamurthy, R Sudha and Kiruba Munuswamy. The Court has issued notice to the state government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The petition of women lawyers has raised strong objection against the callous manner in which the Pollachi case has been handled so far by the state. Particularly, it has been pointed out that the sex abuse survivor’s identity was released not just by the Superintendent of Police during initial stages of the investigation, but also by the state government when it handed over the investigation to the CBI.

This, it is pointed out, is in contravention of obligations under the Constitution of India, International covenants for the protection of women, and the directives issued by the Supreme Court with regard to protecting and supporting the women victims of sexual violence. Such disclosure of the survivor’s identity would also serve as a deterrent for other survivors to approach the authorities with their complaints. As noted in the petition,

“The most important safeguard to a victim of sexual violence is the protection of identity. This protection has been totally disregarded in the instant case. It is obvious that the rest of the victims of sexual assault and blackmail have not come forward to give any complaint to the police in the light of the disclosure of the identity of the victim.”

The petitioners go on to contend,

“…[the] response of the authorities so far is only an eyewash and do not inspire the confidence of the victims. There cannot by any fair investigation unless the victims and witnesses are enabled to participate without fear and after proper counselling information regarding their rights .”

This apart, the petition of women lawyers also states that there are no survivor support structures or witness protection schemes in place in the state. No information has been provided to the public about such support programmes either.

Overall, the petition of women lawyers highlights the inadequacy of survivor protection mechanisms to combat the secondary victimisation that sexual assault survivors may face due to the inadequate response of institutions in the form of lack of support, shaming of the victims and their families etc. It is emphasised that there is an absolute need for psychiatric, legal and other counseling for the victims and their families to help them cope with the emotional trauma associated with sexual abuse.

In view of these concerns, the petitioners pray for the Court to issue the following directions:

Conduct awareness programmes to enlighten the victims and their families about their legal and other rights.

Appoint a high-level woman police officer to head the investigation to ensure a gender-sensitive investigative process.

The CBI should also be directed to incorporate survivor support measures and witness protection measures as part of its investigation

Put in place a one-stop crisis centre comprising counsellors, psychiatrists, doctors and lawyers for the victims of the Pollachi sexual assault case to approach

Implement the Witness Protection Scheme, 2018 as elucidated in the case of Mahender Chawla v UOI.

In February this year, news broke about a gang in Pollachi and Coimbatore, which had blackmailed and raped hundreds of women, including college-going students. As per reports, the gang would contact the women using fake social media accounts and lure them into meetings, where the women were sexually molested and recorded on camera. The video recordings were used to further blackmail them.

The racket came to light after the brother of a survivor lodged a police complaint on behalf of his sister. The case assumed political overtones after the brother was reportedly attacked for having lodged the complaint by a group of persons including a youth wing member of the ruling AIADMK party, who was expelled from the party shortly after that.

Amidst public outcry, the Coimbatore Superintendent of Police, R Pandiarajan revealed the names of the survivor and her brother during a press conference. Even as the police faced public criticism for the same, the Tamil Nadu government revealed the survivor’s name, as well as the college she studied in, in a GO transferring the Pollachi sexual assault case to the CBI.

The Madurai Bench of the High Court thereafter ordered that a fresh GO be issued instead, without revealing the identity of the survivor. The Bench had also directed that the state government pay a sum of Rs 25 lakh to the survivor as compensation for having disclosed her name.

Earlier this month, the First Bench had also issued notice in a PIL calling for a court-monitored probe into the case.

The controversy surrounding the case has also prompted two lawyers to file a plea for a Supreme Court-monitored probe in the matter. The plea, which is pending before the Supreme Court, also calls for transferring the trial outside Tamil Nadu.

News Courtesy: Bar and Bench