TN: College student allegedly assaulted near coimbatore airport; police launch search for three men

NEW DELHI: A sexual assault on a college student by three men near the Coimbatore international airport sent shock waves across the state and sparked political outrage with various parties demanding stringent action on the culprits. The unidentified miscreants attacked and chased away the male friend of the 19-year-old student and allegedly sexually assaulted her on November 2 night at a secluded spot, police said.

Seven special teams have been formed to trace and nab the culprits, police said. Both the student and her friend have been admitted to a hospital. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said the chief minister, who holds the home department portfolio, should direct the police to immediately find the assailants and render justice to the student. Condemning the state government allegedly for undermining women's safety, Palaniswami said during the AIADMK regime, Tamil Nadu was the leading state in India where women lived safely.

Women's safety was ensured totally by the Amma's (late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's) government, he said. "A few months ago, I inaugurated a programme in Chennai, on behalf of the AIADMK, to provide women with a box containing pepper spray, torches, and other safety items. The party functionaries continued to distribute the kit throughout Tamil Nadu," the former Chief Minister said on 'X'.

Rising crimes against women highlighted

Expressing shock, Union Minister L Murugan said the horrific incident was an example of the fact that there has been no reduction in the number of heinous crimes against women in Tamil Nadu. "This sexual assault on a young woman in an important area of Coimbatore district reveals the incompetence of the Tamil Nadu government and police," Murugan said in a post on 'X'. He said it was painful that the police, who were often compared to the international police in terms of their performance, were facing a great deterioration like never before under Chief Minister M K Stalin's rule.

"I pray to God to help the victim to recover from the damage she has suffered, and I strongly urge the Tamil Nadu government to provide the necessary treatment and compensation to the student," the Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs said. Further, the anti-social elements involved in this crime should be punished without any leniency, he urged the government.

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Leaders criticise DMK over safety

BJP state chief Nainar Nagendran announced a statewide protest demanding the arrest of the culprits. Coimbatore South MLA and BJP Mahila Morcha president Vanathi Srinivasan said the sexual assault incident was yet another black mark on the ruling DMK. "History has neither forgiven nor forgotten any leader who has failed to protect women. And Chief Minister Stalin will go down in history as an example of pathetic governance," she said in a post on 'X.'

Expressing shock over the incident, BJP leader K Annamalai claimed that since the DMK came to power in Tamil Nadu, incidents such as these have shown that anti-social elements no longer fear the law or the police. "From DMK ministers to police officials, there has been a disturbing pattern of shielding sexual offenders instead of ensuring justice. The DMK government has utterly failed in both preventing sexual crimes and providing safety for women," he alleged in a post on the social media platform 'X'. PMK, TVK, and the Left parties too condemned the incident and demanded the state government to take steps to bring the culprits to book.