Chennai student sexual assault: Court wants special team to probe the incident

THE MADRAS High Court on Saturday directed constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged sexual assault of a woman student in the Anna University campus in Chennai recently.

All three members of the SIT will be women police officers. The court also directed the state government to pay the victim a compensation of ₹2.5 million (£23,286.86).

A bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice V Lakshminarayan gave the order while hearing a plea for transferring the probe into the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The bench further said the victim's studies should not be affected. Anna University should not charge any fees from her.

The 19-year-old student was sexually assaulted on the campus of the premier technical varsity recently, prompting widespread outrage from opposition parties and the civil society.

One person has been arrested so far in connection with the incident.

Women's panel to visit Chennai

The National Commission for Women on Saturday constituted a two-member fact-finding committee to investigate the alleged sexual assault incident in Chennai.

The commission's chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar has set up the panel comprising member, NCW, Mamta Kumari, and retired IPS officer and former DGP of Maharashtra, Praveen Dixit, to "investigate and recommend action," a statement said.

The fact-finding committee is likely to visit Chennai on December 30, 2024.

"The committee will investigate the case, examine the circumstances leading to the incident, and assess the actions taken by the authorities. It will also interact with concerned officials, the victim, her family, friends, and various NGOs to ascertain the facts and propose measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents," the NCW said.

The commission had already taken suo motu cognizance of the incident, and issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu DGP in this regard. (PTI)