A Fast Track Mahila Court in Srivilliputtur on Monday, April 29, 2024, convicted Nirmala Devi, a former assistant professor at the Devanga Arts College in Arupukottai, in what became a sensational case, on charges of attempting to traffic four girl students of the college in 2018.
However, the judge, T. T. Bagavathiammal acquitted two other accused persons in the case, V. Murugan, an assistant professor of Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU), and S. Karuppasamy, a former research scholar at MKU.
The quantum of sentence for Nirmala Devi will be pronounced on Tuesday, April 30.
The case had sent shockwaves across the State in 2018, not only because of the nature of the crime, but also because it dragged into the scandal, the office of the Tamil Nadu Governor.
An audio clip of the purported conversation between Nirmala Devi, assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics, and four girl students during which she was attempting to convince them to do her bidding, had gone viral at that time.
The charge against her was that she was asking the girls to do “something,” as expected by “higher officials of the MKU,” in return for higher marks in their semester examination, money, and also seat for them in MKU for pursuing their postgraduate studies. She had also mentioned the office of the Governor during this conversation.
However, the girls who were not interested in the “assignment” had lodged a complaint with the college authorities.
Consequently, the Aruppukottai Town police arrested Nirmala Devi and the case was subsequently transferred to the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department. The CB-CID, after an investigation, arrested Murugan and Karuppasamy.
All three were charged under Sections 370 (1) and (3) for a bid to traffic persons, 120 (B) criminal conspiracy and under provisions of the Immoral Trafficking Act, Information Technology Act and the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act.
The Judge had found Nirmala Devi guilty of an attempt to traffic of persons, under provisions of the Immoral Trafficking Act and Information Technology Act, while acquitting the other two accused persons.
Immediately after the controversy had broken out, then T.N. Governor Banwarilal Purohit had, at a rare press conference, rejected any connection to the accused persons and the crime. He had termed the accusation an “absolute falsehood”. Mr Purohit had also set up a one-man committee led by retired IAS officer R. Santhanam to conduct a separate probe into it and submit a report to him.
Appeal against acquittal
The prosecution counsel said witnesses turning hostile had led to the acquittal of the two men, Murugan and Karuppasamy. He said however, that the prosecution would appeal against their acquittal.
The counsel said the women students, during the in-camera proceedings, had explained how Nirmala Devi had tried to lure them. They were, however, not aware of the role of Murugan and Karuppasamy until the investigation zeroed-in on them.
Out of the 104 prosecution witnesses, 82 witnesses were examined during the hearing. Besides, 194 documents and 46 other forms of material evidence were produced by the prosecution.
Following her conviction, Nirmala Devi was lodged at the Madurai Central Prison.
