Wrapping up its investigation, the city police on Wednesday filed a chargesheet against the 17 offenders who were arrested for allegedly committing aggravated sexual assault on an 11-year-old hearing-impaired girl in an apartment in Ayanavaram. In the chargesheet, the police added newly amended provisions of the Indian Penal Code that provide for death sentence.
A senior police officer told The Hindu , “We have completed investigation and filed the chargesheet against the 17 offenders in the Mahila court on the High Court campus. The chargesheet contained more than 300 pages with evidence, witness numbers and medical reports. This is the first time that the prosecution has included the new amendment to get the maximum punishment for the guilty in the case.”
The crime came to light when the girl’s parents took her to hospital after she complained of stomach ache. The private hospital referred her to the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, on suspicion of sexual assault.
Police complaint
The police complaint said the child had been sexually assaulted by the offenders — all service staff in the gated community she lived in — between January 15 and July 5. Lift operator Ravikumar, 56, initiated the sexual assault.
Other offenders followed him. They reportedly threatened her with knives and with photos and videos showing her naked, preventing her from talking to her family.
R. Ravikumar, 56; M. Suresh, 32; A. Rajasekar, 40; A. Erald Bross, 58; B.J. Sugumaran, 65; N. Abishek, 23; K. Murugesu, 54; N. Paramasivam, 60; N. Palani, 40; A. Jayaganesh, 28; P. Gunasekaran, 55; N. Babu, 36; B. Deenadayalan, 50; A. Jayaraman, 26; E. Surya, 23; J. Raja, 30, and A. Umapathy, 42, have been charged under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Most of them were service staff of a private company. They were arrested in July and have been detained in Central Prison under the Goondas Act.
