Pollachi sexual assault case: CB-CID summons Congress leader for inquiry

Congress Working President Mayura Jayakumar was summoned over main accused Thirunavukkarasu's claim that he was visiting the leader on the day of the alleged assault.

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In a fresh twist to the investigation of the Pollachi sexual assault case, the CB-CID has summoned Tamil Nadu Congress working president Mayura Jayakumar. He was called in for an enquiry, according to Maurya, over main accused Thirunavukkarasu's alibi that he was visiting the Congress leader on the day the alleged sexual assault of the survivor who complained happened.

Thirunavukkarasu was in the custody of the CB-CID for four days last week. During questioning, Thirunavukkarasu allegedly told the CB-CID officers that he was with Mayura Jayakumar on February 12, the day on which a college student was sexually assaulted by him and his friends. The summons has been issued to corroborate this information with the politician himself, who has been asked to appear in front of the investigating officer in Coimbatore.

"On February 12, the day the incident has taken place, the accused Thirunavakarasu has claimed that he has come to District Congress Committee office with his father and some other people to meet me and greet me. He just wants to record that he was not in Pollachi and he was in Coimbatore. I am in no way connected to this," said the Congress leader. "Hundreds of people come meet me in the office and among them he could have been one. I have enquired with people in Pollachi. His father was associated with the party, when GK Vasan was in the Congress. Since then, they have come to greet me. I myself don't know his father Kanakaraj or Thirunavakarasu personally. I have spoken to them or met them. Infact, only recently, after this incident, I came to know about them. I haven't met them in my office or house. It was in a big hall where everybody comes and meets me. I am in no way related to this and this is just a defending statement of Thirunavakarasu," he added.

The Pollachi sexual assault case was transferred to the CB-CID on March 12, after which the CB-CID police inspected Thirunavukkarasu’s farmhouse in Chinnappampalayam in Pollachi multiple times. The farmhouse is allegedly the spot where the sexual assault seen in the leaked videos took place.

Meanwhile, various groups of people are engaging in protests seeking a fair probe into the issue. In Coimbatore, a lawyers’ association staged a protest demanding that the Coimbatore SP R Pandiarajan’s name be added as the main accused in the case, since he had revealed the identity of the complainant in the sexual assault case.

The Madurai bench of Madras HC had recently ordered the government of Tamil Nadu to give Rs 25 lakh as compensation to the affected woman for revealing her identity and also ordered departmental action against those who were involved in the lapse.

In a grave lapse, the TN government order transferring the case to the CBI had also identified the survivor and her brother. The High Court then ordered the government to withdraw the GO and issue a fresh order in its place, without revealing the identity of the survivor. The CBI is reportedly awaiting the fresh orders.