#PollachiGroomingGangs
The incidents of sexual abuse, rape and misogyny are so rampant to even cause a distraction in India. I have previously written about the cultural aspects of this and the support of religion. The most recent one is the uncovering of the rape gangs in the small town of Pollachi in Tamil Nadu, India. The incident has a lot in common with the grooming gangs of the UK, especially in Rotherham and Huddersfield.
What is the scandal in Pollachi
The scandal came to light when it was reported that the Pollachi East police have arrested four young men for blackmailing a 19-year-old student of a private college by taking her in a car, sexually assaulting her and recording the act. What looked like yet another case of rape and blackmail turned out to be one of the most organised sexual crime gang in TamilNadu history. The mobile phones of the alleged perpetrators had over a thousand videos of young girls who were lured, trapped, abused and blackmailed for years. I listened to the audio of one particular clip. It was gutwrenching to hear the pleas of the girl being ignored as these monsters harrassed her. While it takes a psychopath to rape anyone, it is unimaginable the treachery involved in deceiving someone in the name of love and then capturing the moments to blackmail them. As things emerge, the four people involved are part of a larger network of men who have been doing this for close to a decade. The network includes people who are wealthy, well educated and have political connections. The number of victims seems to be as high as 200 according to some media reports.
Political aftermath
As it turns out the police have helped cover up these incidents for close to a decade. One of the main accused is an AIADMK party cadre, which is currently the ruling party in Tamil Nadu. This has resulted in the opposition parties calling for the ouster of the Chief Minister. The irony is none of the politicians is any better. The DMK Supremo M.K. Stalin has been accused of sexually assaulting many women. The hypocrisy in their speech is damaging the seriousness of the issue. The ruling party, on the other hand, is only interested in subduing the issue as there is an election coming up. They have transferred the case to Crime Branch – CID to wash their hands off. The government was so careless that they couldn’t maintain the privacy of the victims. They mentioned the names in the government order which went public.
Reactions
The reactions to this have been extremely predictable. The public in Tamil Nadu alone is outraged but is not able to do anything apart from standing silently in solidarity. They are asking for the guilty to be punished swiftly.
The national media was not interested in the case as it didn’t involve Pakistan, Bollywood or bluntly people from the north of India. The coverage was so bad that Madras High Court had to bluntly tell the media that they are not interested in the rural parts of Tamil Nadu.
The average testosterone gushing men are forwarding the videos for personal pleasure at the expense of the emotional turmoil of the girls. The police are requesting people not to forward the videos but that doesn’t change anything in the minds of the sick.
Though everyone is outraged, the story goes that prospective grooms don’t want to marry anyone from that town as they feel the girls could be one of those victims. So much for the outrage.
What has happened now?
The alleged perpetrators have been charged with the below sections of Indian Penal Code for the sexual assault and blackmail.
- 354(A) Sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment
- 354(B) Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe
- 394 Voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery
- 66E IT Act violation of privacy
Few of them have also been charged the below sections for threatening the family of the victims and physical assault.
- 341. Punishment for wrongful restraint.
- 294(b) – sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place.
- 323. Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt.
- 324 – Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means.
- 506. Punishment for criminal intimidation.
[Source https://indiankanoon.org%5D
Some of these are non-bailable offences.
In the next part, I want to share my opinion on
- Rape Culture
- Buying justice
- Handling gang crimes
Demystifying a skeptic's world 