Three minors among 6 arrested for sexually assaulting 3 minor girls in Chennai

CHENNAI: City police have arrested six persons including three minor boys under the Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act for alleged sexual assault on three minor girls.

After a missing complaint by the family of one of the girls led the police to an abandoned government building in Perambur, where three minor girls were found, the probe revealed that the girls were lured under the pretext of a relationship by the boys. All three girls were victims of penetrative sexual assault, police said.

The arrested persons were identified as Abishek Antony (19), Kalimullah alias Ali (21) of Muthamizh Nagar in Kodungaiyur, Syed Mohammad Jaffer (22) of Peravallur and three minor boys. Abishek, Kalimullah and one of the minor boys have criminal cases against them, police said.

Two of the girls are school students while another is a school dropout who is now pursuing a technical course. The issue came to light after one of the girls left her house on January 24 evening after getting permission from her mother to attend her friend's family function but failed to return home.

The three youths were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody while the three minor boys were sent to the government observation home for boys.

In a relative development, leader of the opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami expressed concern over the reports of young students being lured into relationships and reported cases of sexual assaults in the State. He urged the government to take steps to curb such incidents in future.

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court invited suggestions from the advocates associations, police and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to strengthen the security of the court campus as a country-made bomb was allegedly brought into the court.

A division bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and N Jothiraman heard a batch of cases seeking to quash the Goondas Act provisions slapped against the accused booked in the murder case of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) state leader K Armstrong.

Additional Advocate General (AAG) P Kumaresan submitted the status report on the investigation done regarding the allegations of country-made bombs brought into the court and handed over to the accused connected with the Armstrong murder case.

AAG submitted CCTV screen grabs of the persons who brought the bombs concealed in a lunch bag. It was submitted that the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu suspended the six advocates who brought the bombs.

The counsel for the petitioners objected to the allegation and stated no proof was unearthed by the investigation agency to establish the allegation.

After all the submissions, the bench invited all the stakeholders, including advocacy associations, police, and CISF, to provide suggestions to amplify the security of the Madras High Court campus.

"What if the bomb, which was allegedly brought to the court, had blasted? How many lives would we have lost, and what if the blast damaged the statue of BR Ambedkar?" Justice SM Subramaniam asked, and the bench invited the opinions of stakeholders to arrive at a solution to ensure at least a minimal security check.

"We have to sensitize the advocates and police in this regard," the bench observed, and the court also advised the advocates to cooperate with the police for the checking as it is a sensitive issue. The matter was posted to January 29, to arrive at a solution.