Pollachi sexual assault case | How nine men operated a notorious racket in a calm, picturesque Pollachi

Notorious Pollachi sexual assault case involved nine convicts operating a racket in picturesque rural Coimbatore region.

The nine persons convicted in the Pollachi sexual assault case operated a notorious racket out of the otherwise calm rural Pollachi region in Coimbatore district, where numerous films have been shot for its picturesque landscape.

The accused sexually assaulted the victims at several locations, including the house of a survivor, investigators found. However, a private guest house of K. Thirunavukkarasu, 34, one of the convicts and a budding financier, at Chinnappapalayam near Pollachi was the place where a majority of the sexual assaults had taken place. According to investigators, the nine accused began using the house with audio systems for partying and, later, sexually assaulting women. They used to play loud music when they sexually assaulted the women. A few of them would stand outside the house to keep watch for visitors.

On several occasions, they also assaulted the victims physically when they resisted. In one instance, a girl managed to escape from the house and sought shelter at a neighbouring house, said sources.

They approached the survivors, mostly hailing from lower socio-economic backgrounds on various pretexts, including offering them jobs.

In one instance, one of the accused sexually assaulted the survivor in her house and recorded the act on video. He later used the video to blackmail her and made her come to the house at Chinnappapalayam. She was subjected to repeated sexual assault in a single day, sources said. Investigators also found that one of the convicts used a voice-changer app to speak as a woman to the survivors’ family members as his mother or a female friend.

While Thirunavukkarasu had been a financier, N. Sabarirajan, 32, alias Rishwanth, was a civil engineering degree holder. M. Sathish, 33, ran a ready-made garment showroom at Pollachi.

T. Vasanthakumar, 30, had been assisting Thirunavukkarasu, while R. Mani alias Manivannan, 32, and P. Babu, 33, did odd jobs. T. Haronimus Paul, 32, had been assisting his father in his business.