Naming victim in GO is contempt: Activists

Mohamed Imranullah S.

CHENNAI, MARCH 15, 2019 00:00 IST

Say only in December last Supreme Court had come down hard against such disclosures

Disclosure of identity of a college girl who had lodged a complaint regarding the Pollachi sexual abuse issue in a Government Order issued on Wednesday, for transferring the case to the CBI, has created an outrage among activists who claim that such a disclosure violated Supreme Court verdicts on related issues.

They recall that the Supreme Court, in a judgement delivered on December 11, 2018, had issued a set of nine directions listing how and in what manner the identity of adult victims of rape as well as child victims of sexual abuse should be protected so that they were not subjected to ridicule, social boycott and harassment.

“Though the First Information Report in the Pollachi sexual abuse issue had been booked under Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of Indian Penal Code and not under Section 376 (rape), the latter could be included at any stage of investigation or even at the time of filing charge sheet.

“Therefore, the Supreme Court directions would squarely apply to the burning issue related sexual abuse of several young girls in Pollachi and the government ought not to have disclosed the complainant’s identity in the Government Order. This clearly amounts to contempt of court,” said Senthil Arumugam of Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, a non-governmental organisation.

In the December 2018 verdict, Justices Madan B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta of the Supreme Court had ordered that no person could publish the name of the victims or even in a remote manner disclose any facts which could lead to the victim being identified. They directed that FIRs relating to them should not be put in the public domain.

The judges went a step ahead and exempted the victims too from disclosing their identity when they file appeals against verdicts passed by trial courts in rape and child sexual abuse cases. The most important of the directives was to the police who were directed to protect the identity of such victims by keeping all documents in sealed covers.

“All the authorities to whom the name of the victim is disclosed by the investigating agency or the court are also duty bound to keep the name and identity of the victim secret and not disclose it in any manner except in the report which should only be sent in a sealed cover to the investigating agency or the court,” the Supreme Court had ordered.

Pointing out that this was the latest judgment on the issue, advocate R. Sudha said, “The mighty State cannot feign ignorance about the verdict since it is a well settled proposition of law that ignorance of law is no excuse to escape punishment. It cannot also claim that Pollachi case had not been booked for rape because that provision could be invoked any moment.”

Case booked against Stalin’s son-in-law

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, MARCH 15, 2019 00:00 IST

For ‘misinformation campaign’

The Chennai police taken up a criminal case against Sabareesan, son-in-law of DMK president M.K. Stalin, for alleged misinformation campaign linking Deputy Speaker V. Jayaraman to the Pollachi sexual abuse case.

On Tuesday, Mr. Jayaraman submitted a complaint seeking investigation against those spreading rumours against him and his family in the case.

After submitting a representation to the DGP, Mr. Jayaraman reiterated his claim that the DMK was behind attempts to defame him and the AIADMK ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

He alleged that the misinformation campaign linking his family to the case was being carried out in social media.

The complaint was forwarded to the Chennai police and an FIR was registered on Thursday by the Cyber Crime Unit.

DMK president M.K. Stalin sent a legal notice to Mr. Jayaraman.

Mr. Sabareesan has been charged under sections 153 (Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 469 (Forgery for purpose of harming reputation), 471 (Using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 505(1), a,b, c(which deal with spreading false information or rumour) of the Indian Penal Code.

The Cyber Crime Police also summoned Nakkeeran Gopal, editor of Tamil bi-weekly following a complaint from Mr. Jayaraman.

Mr. Jayaraman alleged that Mr. Gopal released scandalous video linking him and his family to the sexual abuse case.

Before taking up the complaint for registration, the Cyber Crime police asked Mr. Gopal to come in for the inquiry which will be held in Old Commissioner’s office on Friday.

High Court says it has lost faith in city police

Legal Correspondent

CHENNAI, MARCH 15, 2019 00:00 IST

Orders CB-CID inquiry into case

Observing that it has lost faith in the Chennai city police, the Madras High Court has ordered a Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) inquiry into a complaint lodged in connection with alleged offences committed under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989.

Justice P. Velmurugan passed the order on a petition filed by the complainant, A.B. Karl Marx Siddharthar of Perambur. Though the complaint was lodged way back in 2016, the judge said the investigation had not been completed so far and no final report had been filed by the city police before the jurisdictional court.

“The recital of the complaint reveals that allegations are also made out for the offences under the SC/ST Act. However, the FIR has been registered only for the offences punishable under Sections 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code,” the judge said.

After lodging the complaint against three named Caste Hindus with whom he had a dispute over encroachment of a pathway, the petitioner was allegedly assaulted by a group of policemen when he was filming one of the Caste Hindus abusing a Dalit woman in the locality on January 14, 2016.

Plea rejected

Though he lodged a private complaint against the policemen, the Principal District and Sessions Judge here rejected the plea and hence the present petition.

Justice Velmurugan ordered that the CB-CID should probe into all allegations including those under the SC/ST Act and file a chargesheet before the court concerned within six months.

State aims to have 1 PG seat for every 2 MBBS students

R. Sujatha

CHENNAI, MARCH 15, 2019 00:00 IST

This academic year the State has 1,758 seats in PG programmes across its 22 medical colleges. Fifty percent of these seats will be surrendered to the All India Quota, said A. Edwin Joe, Director of Medical Education.

“We converted 393 seats to master’s degree programmes and got permission to add 128 seats that we had applied for. Last year, we gained around 500 seats and this year we have added 474 seats. Diabetology is a diploma course as we don’t have a corresponding master’s degree,” an official said.

Medical education officials see the improvement in seats as an opportunity to build capacity in the State. “Students from across the country will study under the All India Quota, which will benefit all,” the official pointed out.

The State has sought 350 seats for the MBBS programme, in addition to its existing 2,900 seats.

These include 150 seats for the upcoming Karur Medical College and an increase of 100 seats each in Madurai and Tirunelveli medical colleges. “The increase would ensure that one in every two UG students in these medical colleges will get into PG programmes and that is a healthy ratio,” Dr. Joe said.

The first round of online counselling to allot AIQ PG seats will begin on Friday.

Candidates will get 10 days to register their choices and six days to lock in their choice, which ends at 5 p.m. on March 24.

The results will be declared on March 27. Candidates will get until April 3 to report to their respective colleges. The DME has started issuing applications and the last date for submitting filled-in forms online is March 20.

Precision medicine is here to stay, says diabetes expert

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, MARCH 15, 2019 00:00 IST

‘A scientific approach will ensure quality of life’

Diabetes may be all about irregular glucose levels but every person with the condition could respond differently to commonly prescribed medicines. A scientific approach would help treat each patient precisely for their condition and ensure quality of life, said V. Mohan, Chairman of Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialties Centre.

Dr. Mohan, who delivered the P. Kutumpiah endowment lecture at the University of Madras here on Thursday, said treatment can be provided to a patient using their health history. The Indian diabetes risk score that relies on age, physical activity, waist measurement and parents’ health history can help doctors predict with 70% accuracy a person’s predisposition to diabetes.

Precision medicine is based on science — where a genetic study is done and artificial intelligence comes up with a formula on the possible responses to a drug. Precision medicine helps to prevent complications that could occur from long-time use of medicine, he said. People with conditions such as obesity, anaemia, and poor kidney function, all require different types of drugs.

Phenotype study such as BMI score and age could further refine the results.

“A single gene defect could produce diabetes. Find a mutation and you find a cause,” he explained, citing the instance of a 16-year-old girl who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, putting her on lifelong insulin supplement.

A thorough study of the patient, however, found that the girl had inherited a mutated gene resulting in type 2 diabetes requiring specific treatment.

“For every drug there are some genetic markers: if you have them you will either respond, won’t respond or will have side effects. If the cost of genetic testing becomes very cheap you can do it for all,” Dr. Mohan said.

Forensic experts to be engaged in Pollachi sexual abuse case

S. Vijay Kumar

CHENNAI, MARCH 15, 2019 00:00 IST

Investigators plan to look beyond facts and sections in the FIR

The Crime Branch CID of the Tamil Nadu police will rope in cyber forensic experts as part of the investigation into the Pollachi sexual abuse case. Wit

h new videos/photographs emerging from various sources, the agency will look beyond the facts and sections of the FIR in the case.According to sources in the CB-CID, investigators were perusing vital clues and analysing storage devices, including mobile phones, seized from the suspects. A pen drive was found during searches on the residence of K. Thirunavukkarasu, one of the accused arrested and remanded in the case.

Asked about two videos circulated in the social media that contained the suspects sexually harassing or physically abusing girls and some photographs, a senior police official said that the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Pollachi town police was based on a complaint lodged by a college student.

“That case is relevant only to the complaint lodged by the girl. Our investigation will go beyond this FIR...efforts are on to identify the victims and motivate them to come out with the truth. Special teams are verifying every information that is coming from various sources,” the official said, adding that the CB-CID could alter the Sections.

In the FIR accessed by The Hindu , the victim says she knew Thirunavukkarasu and N. Sabarirajan through a common friend. On February 12, 2019, shortly after noon Sabarirajan called her while she was in college and wanted to meet her in person. He asked her to immediately come to Oonjavelampatti bus stop. When she went there, Sabarirajan and Thirunavukkarasu were waiting in a car.

Victim’s account

“I sat along with Sabarirajan in the rear seat and as Thirunavukkarasu started the car, two others entered the car. They were introduced to me as Satish and Vasanthakumar. After some time, the car stopped near the gate of a mill. Sabarirajan suddenly removed my upper garment and even before I could realise and resist, Satish took a video. They threatened that if I don’t cooperate, they would release the video in the internet...while two of them held my hands, Satish snatched my one sovereign gold chain,” the girl said, adding that the suspects dropped her and left the scene.

After the four threatened her often demanding money, the victim informed her family members on February 24, 2019, and they decided to lodge a complaint with the police. Meanwhile, the CB-CID has appealed to the people affected by the accused persons or having information on the alleged incidents to share them with the investigating agency.

The CB-CID said those having photos or videos could contact the Deputy Superintendent of Police by dialling 9488442993 instead of posting such evidence in the social media.

Keelkattalai flyovers to be completed by March 2020

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, MARCH 15, 2019 00:00 IST

Long overdue:Each flyover will be 700 m in length, with 17 spans.B. Velanakanni Raj

Work that began in 2016 resumed recently after a change of contractors

The Highways Department has set a new deadline for completion of the two flyovers at Keelkattalai that are coming up at the junction of Thoraipakkam-Pallavaram Radial Road and Medavakkam Main Road.

The work, which began in 2016, resumed recently after a change of contractors. The department has now given the new contractor time till March 2020 for completing the work.

Contractor terminated

Sources in the department said the previous contractor had completed only 28% of the Rs. 64-crore project and had to be terminated.

“The two three-lane uni-directional flyovers were slated to be completed by December last year. We sent him notices and imposed fines, but he was not able to complete the work within the stipulated time. Hence we had to go in for fresh tenders,” the officer said.

Each flyover will be 700 m in length with 17 spans.

The new contractor, after mobilising men and machinery in the last three months, commenced work only recently. He will work on the four obligatory spans that will come up over the junction shortly. The Highways Department will be writing to the traffic police seeking permission for changes in traffic movement during the period of construction of the spans.

M. Ramasamy, who runs a plywood store on Medavakkam Main Road, said the junction was known for slowing traffic. “Even before the construction began, vehicle movement was slow. Now it takes motorists some 20-30 minutes to cross the junction. We hope the flyovers are completed on schedule and that they bring relief to motorists,” he said.

S. Suresh, a resident of Kandanchavadi, said he usually avoided taking the Radial road to the GST Road and the airport, since traffic moved slowly during peak hours due to the flyover work.

“I take the southern sector of the Inner Ring Road and go via Alandur. Though it is a longer route, I don’t mind the distance since I make it on time to the airport. Hopefully, the flyover work near the airport too will be completed on time,” he said.

The two three-lane uni-directional flyovers were slated to be completed by December last year

Officer

Highways Department