A shocking piece of news comes in light of the gruesome Pollachi sexual assault. The case pertains to alleged sexual abuse of more than 50 women in Pollachi by a group of men. In February and early March, a group of 4 accused, Thirunavukkarasu, Sathish, Sabarirajan and Vasanthakumar were arrested after a victim came forward and lodged a complaint in furtherance to the sexual assault on 12th February. In a sensational development, the name of the Tamil Nadu Congress Working President, Mayura Jayakumar has come forward in connection to the case. The CB-CID has summoned him as part of the investigation into the shocking crime.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi had appointed Jayakumar as the working president of the party early in February. He was earlier the state youth Congress chief who had been fielded by the party as the candidate from Kovai south assembly seat in 2016 state assembly election. However, after being defeated, he is now an aspirant for the Lok Sabha elections.
The main accused in the case, Thirunavukkarasu was apprehended on March 5. The accused has claimed that he was visiting the Congress chief on 12th February, the day the horrific sexual assault took place. During his time at police custody, the accused has categorically stated that he was with Mayura Jayakumar on 12 February. Thirunavukkarasu has used his name as an alibi to prove that he was not in Pollachi but in fact in Coimbatore when the incident happened. The family has long standing associations with Congress since the time the accused person’s father was known to GK Vasan.
#PollachiSexualAbuseCase: Police summon Coimbatore Congress leader Mayura Jayakumar. The main accused, Thirunavukkarasu, has reportedly claimed he was with Jayakumar on February 12, the day he allegedly sexually harassed a student. The leader has been summoned to corroborate this pic.twitter.com/SnzdVQb9Zb
— HTN Tiranga TV (@NewsHtn) March 21, 2019
The gruesome crime took place on 12th February when a college student from Pollachi was sexually assaulted under the pretext of a friendly meeting. Moreover, the men also shot videos of the survivor and later used them to blackmail and extort money from her. CB-CID police suspect that Thirunavukkarasu’s farmhouse in Chinnappampalayam in Pollachi is the spot where the sexual assault seen in the leaked videos took place. On 24th February, the victim filed a complaint with a local police station and the accused were subsequently arrested. Additionally, the Tamil Nadu police have charged them under the Goondas Act and not granted them bail. The case has now been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after the state government received the go-ahead from Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit.
Jayakumar is scheduled to appear before investigating officers 25 March in Coimbatore. However, he is being rather dubious about the allegations. The Congress leader is claiming that “It is likely that Thirunavukkarasu may be one of the people who came to meet him” in the District Congress Committee office.
In the run-up before the elections, with a hoard of Congress leaders leaving the party and other refusing to contest the elections, the last thing that the grand old party needs is a gruesome controversy such as a sexual assault case being revolved around the few remaining leaders.