THENI
Unravelling a shocking case of exploitation of women, Periyakulam police in Theni district arrested a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation driver attached to Periyakulam branch on Tuesday for allegedly sexually exploiting over 12 women.
Police sources said the arrested driver, D. Sathyan, 51, of Vadakarai Golden City, used to get acquainted with women from various walks of life and trapped them through a planned strategy. Initially, he married a woman from Thevaram and after fathering a girl child, he divorced her. The woman, along with her daughter, was living in Madurai now. Subsequently, he married another woman and fathered a girl child, after which he divorced her too. She was working as a teacher in Chennai.
Recently, Sathyan got acquainted with a woman lawyer from Periyakulam, made her fall into his trap and videographed her inappropriately. He then blackmailed her saying that he would circulate the video clip on the Internet and extorted ₹50,000 from her. He also threatened to get her killed if she asked for the money.
He also sexually exploited a government teacher from Allinagaram, took videos and photos of her and had been blackmailing her. Upon receiving complaints from three of his victims, Periyakulam police, on the direction of Superintendent of Police V. Baskaran, booked separate cases against Sathyan under various sections of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Women Harassment Act and the Information Technology Act.
Sathyan was remanded in District Central Jail in Gandamanur on Tuesday evening.
“His modus operandi was to approach women in a friendly manner, brainwash them and earn their trust as a good, reliable friend. After sometime, he would invite them to his house in Periyakulam, where he was living alone. He would sexually exploit them there and the act would be filmed by hidden cameras. Later, he used to blackmail the women with the sexually explicit content and extort money from them or continue to sexually exploit them,” said a senior police officer.
The sources said the police had recovered over eight such video clips from devices like pen drive and mobile phone kept in his house. “Among the victims, there were also women who happened to be passengers in the bus he drove,” said the officer.
