A special team from Dindigul district led by Additional Deputy Superintendent of Police (ADSP) has gone to Kannur district in Kerala to probe the allegation of a 40-year-old woman that she was gang-raped in Palani on June 19, said DIG of Police (Dindigul Range) B. Vijayakumari in Palani on Tuesday.
Addressing mediapersons, accompanied by Superintendent of Police Ravali Priya, the DIG said that since the woman had submitted her petition to the Kerala DGP, which was forwarded to Tamil Nadu DGP, the police here had registered a case based on her complaint.
The woman had stated that she came to Palani on June 19 and stayed in a lodge with a man. The following day, they were asked to vacate the room. While she was walking on the road, some persons forcibly took her to a place and raped her, she alleged.
Answering a volley of questions, Ms. Vijayakumari said that a preliminary probe indicated that the couple had possibly consumed liquor in the room during their stay and had an altercation. After the lodge staff complained to the owner about it, they were told to vacate on June 20.
Though the officers in Palani Town police station claimed that they had not received any complaint from the woman about the gang rape, she had claimed in her petition to the Kerala DGP that the local police treated them in an inhumane manner and demanded action against the police and the accused.
Responding to a query, the DIG said that the woman, who was examined by a team of doctors at the Kannur GH, did not have injuries and that she was “normal.”
Meanwhile, the lodge owner in Palani told reporters that he received calls from Kerala threatening him to give money to the woman. Besides, a caller, claiming to be a police officer, directed him to appear before the Thalaserry police station in Kannur district, Kerala, with the CCTV footage, the log book of visitors for two years and other records.
The lodge owner said that he had given his statement to the police and sought protection.
