Chennai: A day after the daring sexual assault of an engineering student on the Anna University campus in Chennai shook Tamil Nadu, fresh outrage was triggered over the leak of the girl’s identity.
A copy of the FIR containing graphic details of the horrible crime revealing the girl’s identity including her personal contact details was circulated on social media on Thursday.
Taking suo moto cognisance of the incident, National Women’s Commission Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar directed the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police to initiate action against officers “for publicly revealing the victim’s identity, violating SC guidelines and Section 72 BNS.”
Vijaya said the accused in the case was a habitual offender, “with Tamil Nadu Police failing to act on previous cases”. She charged: “This negligence has emboldened him to commit such crimes, raising serious concerns about the collapsing law and order situation in Tamil Nadu.
The NCW directed the DGP to ensure free medical care and protection for the victim. And “add Section 71 of BNS, 2023, to the FIR for stricter punishment.”
An embarrassed Chennai Police Commissioner Arun said the FIR got release outside of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) due to a “technical glitch.”
Meanwhile, opposition parties including the AIADMK and BJP release photographs showing the accused Gnanasekaran in the company of senior DMK leaders including Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and Health Minister Ma Subramanian.
The parties alleged that the accused had earlier gone scot free on account of his DMK connections. Claiming that the accused and the DMK had no connections, Law Minister S Regupathy told journalists, “he is not even a primary member of the party.”
On his photos with party leaders, he said, “If you see the photos you will know. The Deputy CM is walking away (in the picture)… We cannot prevent people from taking pictures or selfies when we go around in public as phones with cameras are used widely.”
