After NBW, ex-IG Murugan appears in court in sexual harassment case
The charges against him were explained and he denied the allegations. The case trial began and the further hearing on the case was postponed to December 26.
EX IGP S Murugan (Daily Thanthi)
CHENNAI: Three days after a metropolitan magistrate court issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against the retired IGP, S Murugan in a sexual harassment case, the former police officer surrendered before the magistrate on Monday after which the NBW against him was recalled.
The charges against him were explained and he denied the allegations. The case trial began and the further hearing on the case was postponed to December 26.
Earlier this year, the State had allowed Murugan to retire from service on the date of his superannuation, without prejudice to the pending judicial proceedings and the disciplinary proceedings against him.
While he was serving as Joint Director in DVAC in Chennai in August 2018, he had allegedly sexually harassed a SP ranked woman police officer after which the complaint was referred to the Internal Complaints Committee and a criminal case was booked by the CB-CID and a chargesheet was filed before the trial court. Murugan was booked under various sections.
On November 15, Xi metropolitan magistrate, N Sultan Aribeen passed an order dismissing Murugan’s plea seeking to discharge him from the case after observing that the prosecution had prima facie established the facts of the case.
“In women harassment cases, if the victim’s statement is cogent, it is enough to take up the case against the accused as held by higher courts in several cases previously,” the court observed and dismissed the retired police officer’s plea which cited other witness statements not supporting the prosecution’s case.
