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17-yr-old TN girl alleges threat to life in viral video addressed to CM Stalin
In the video, the girl said that she and her family have been excommunicated from their village in Chengalpattu district and are being threatened regularly by three men. She also alleged police inaction until the time of releasing the video.
The Sadras police in Tamil Nadu’s Chengalpattu district filed a case against three men on Monday, March 14 after a 17-year-old girl released a video alleging that she and her family were being harassed and threatened after being excommunicated from their village. One of the accused, Dinesh, is a former union secretary of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). The other two accused are Ellappan and Gopalakrishan. All three of them and the girl are Vanniyar, the MBC caste group that the PMK represents.
In the viral video addressing Chief Minister MK Stalin, the distressed girl said that she and her 15-year-old sister are terrified to even leave their house at Mel Perumal Cheri near Kalpakkam. “If we step out of the house, Dinesh and Ellappan ask us ‘you have been excommunicated, how can you come out?’ We’re unable to even walk down the street. We are extremely scared. The two of them have threatened to set fire to our home while we are sleeping.”
The girl said that the mental health of both her and her sister has been impacted by the continued harassment, which has even pushed them to consider taking their own lives. She further alleged that the All Womens’ Police Station in Mahabalipuram had not been of any help. “They told us we would not be harassed any more, but they did not take any measures to help us. We don’t trust the police anymore.” Towards the end of the video, she adds, “We don’t even feel like living anymore. If we die, only Dinesh and Ellappan are responsible. By the time you [CM Stalin] see this video, we don’t know if we would be alive. Please help us.”
Sadras police went to the girl’s residence at 3 am on Monday after the video went viral. They registered a case under sections 8 (imprisonment from three to five years), 9 (aggravated sexual assault by person in authority), 11(definition of sexual assault upon a child) and 12 (imprisonment upto three years and fine) of the POCSO Act, sections 294(b) (obscenity), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, and the Tamil Nadu Women Harassment Act. The office of Chengalpattu’s Superintendent of Police (SP) said the incident is being investigated. They told TNM that Dinesh and a person close to the girl’s family were involved in a dispute according to a few residents of Mel Perumal Cheri.
“We are attempting to verify if this dispute has anything to do with the video, and if the girl’s allegations are genuine or someone has motivated her to put this up. It is too early to say anything conclusive now,” a police officer said. Other police sources TNM spoke to said they will also be investigating a sexual harassment allegation against the brother of the girl in the viral video.
Chengalpattu SP Aravindhan P also tweeted on Monday, “An FIR has been registered under the POCSO Act and relevant sections of the IPC and investigation is going on.” He also requested the public not to share the video anymore as it reveals the identity of the girl, who is a minor.
In the viral video addressing Chief Minister MK Stalin, the distressed girl said that she and her 15-year-old sister are terrified to even leave their house at Mel Perumal Cheri near Kalpakkam. “If we step out of the house, Dinesh and Ellappan ask us ‘you have been excommunicated, how can you come out?’ We’re unable to even walk down the street. We are extremely scared. The two of them have threatened to set fire to our home while we are sleeping.”
The girl said that the mental health of both her and her sister has been impacted by the continued harassment, which has even pushed them to consider taking their own lives. She further alleged that the All Womens’ Police Station in Mahabalipuram had not been of any help. “They told us we would not be harassed any more, but they did not take any measures to help us. We don’t trust the police anymore.” Towards the end of the video, she adds, “We don’t even feel like living anymore. If we die, only Dinesh and Ellappan are responsible. By the time you [CM Stalin] see this video, we don’t know if we would be alive. Please help us.”
Sadras police went to the girl’s residence at 3 am on Monday after the video went viral. They registered a case under sections 8 (imprisonment from three to five years), 9 (aggravated sexual assault by person in authority), 11(definition of sexual assault upon a child) and 12 (imprisonment upto three years and fine) of the POCSO Act, sections 294(b) (obscenity), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, and the Tamil Nadu Women Harassment Act. The office of Chengalpattu’s Superintendent of Police (SP) said the incident is being investigated. They told TNM that Dinesh and a person close to the girl’s family were involved in a dispute according to a few residents of Mel Perumal Cheri.
“We are attempting to verify if this dispute has anything to do with the video, and if the girl’s allegations are genuine or someone has motivated her to put this up. It is too early to say anything conclusive now,” a police officer said. Other police sources TNM spoke to said they will also be investigating a sexual harassment allegation against the brother of the girl in the viral video.
Chengalpattu SP Aravindhan P also tweeted on Monday, “An FIR has been registered under the POCSO Act and relevant sections of the IPC and investigation is going on.” He also requested the public not to share the video anymore as it reveals the identity of the girl, who is a minor.