Anna Univ sexual assault: Accused acted alone, will face charges under 4 more sections, says Chennai Police Commissioner

CHENNAI: Greater Chennai Police Commissioner A Arun on Thursday told media persons that the Anna University student sexual assault case accused Gnansekaran acted in an individual capacity and that no other accomplice was operating with him.

Regarding the Anna University student’s statement that the accused spoke to another person on the phone, the Commissioner said that their investigations have revealed that he had kept his phone on flight mode and made the claims to scare the student.

The Commissioner also revealed that Gnanasekaran has 20 cases against him - all of them are property offences - since 2013. He has been convicted in six of them, and other cases are under various stages of the investigation.

The survivor, a second-year engineering student who was with her male friend, was sexually assaulted by Gnanasekaran on Monday night. The victim filed a police complaint the next day, following which police initiated investigations and arrested the accused on Christmas day.

Appreciating the survivor for approaching the police within a day of the incident, the Commissioner appealed to survivors in similar cases to approach the police and promised swift action.

However, he brushed down media reports about the accused sexually assaulting another student in the same campus a few days ago and said that the GCP has not received any complaint so far.

The Commissioner said that teams had been assigned to go through the mobile phone of Gnanasekaran to ascertain evidence of his involvement in any other incident of sexual assault. “If found, we will reach out to the survivor and get a complaint,” the Commissioner said.

On the accused’s easy access to the University campus, Commissioner Arun said that Anna University allows the general public to walk, which the accused had misused. The University has six main gates and five other gates.

“There are 70 CCTV cameras inside the campus, of which 56 are in working condition, and there are 140 security officers who work in shifts,” the Commissioner said and added that the Kotturpuram Police, under whose jurisdiction the University falls, has enough patrols and they will be reviewing the security measures again.

Kotturpuram AWPS (All Women Police Station) has added sections 127 (2) of BNS (wrongful confinement), 351 (3) (criminal intimidation) and sections 67 and 67 (A) of the Information Technology Act along with previously registered sections 63 (a), 64 (1) (rape), 75 (1) (sexual harassment).

Gnanasekaran was summoned on the night of the complaint, along with several suspects, and was let off and arrested again after investigations on Wednesday. He broke his arm and leg while attempting to flee the police and is now being treated at a hospital.