Anna Univ sexual assault: Cops deny seizure of obscene videos

CHENNAI: Amidst reports on the seizure of electronic gadgets containing obscene contents of the survivor girl and the special investigation team identifying one person from Tirupur as the second accused in the Anna University sexual assault case, the state police headquarters on Saturday clarified that no competent authority has issued any such statement and the content and information related to the investigation being circulated in the public domain is completely false and without any basis.

As per the orders of the High Court of Madras, an all-women Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Dr Bhukya Sneha, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Anna Nagar, Chennai is currently conducting investigation into the case.

In the meantime, some news channels and social media platforms have telecast/published certain information in the public domain commenting on the alleged leads/progress in the investigation by the SIT. In particular, these unsubstantiated forums claim that "the victim girl has stated before the SIT of the accused speaking to someone whom he addressed as 'sir'," that "the SIT has seized electronic gadgets from accused with obscene contents of the survivor", and that "one person from Tirupur identified as another accused", etc.

"Such baseless and speculative information about the investigation of the cases by the SIT not only creates confusion among the public but also has the potential to affect the free and fair investigation process adversely," the note said.

"Given the serious nature of the cases involved and the sensitive nature of the probe, media houses, individuals, and social media influencers are requested to desist from speculating on the outcome of the investigation as such misleading information may undermine the integrity of the investigation process," it added.