BREAKING | Madras High Court Forms SIT To Investigate The Alleged Sexual Assault Of Student In Anna University, Orders 25Lakh Interim Compensation To Survivor

The Madras High Court on Saturday (December 28) formed a Special Investigation Team comprising of women IPS officers to investigate into the alleged sexual assault of a 2nd Year Engineering Student inside the Anna Univeristy campus in Chennai earlier on Monday.

A division bench of Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice V Lakshminarayanan held a special sitting on Saturday and passed the orders on a batch of pleas seeking a CBI probe into the incident. The court said that there were lapses on the part of the police and the University and was thus inclined to form the SIT.

"We have observed lapses on the part of the Police and the University. We think that an SIT has to be constituted with women police officials to look into the case. We hope that the SIT will take up the investigation in teh right earnest and file a chargesheet in both the cases. No offender should be allowed to scot free irrespective of their status, position or otherwise," the court ordered.

The court also remarked that the leaking of the FIR, containing the personal details of the victim has to be viewed seriously and investigated into. The court said that the FIR leak was a serious lapse on the part of the police which caused trauma for the victim and her family. The court directed the State to pay an interim compensation of Rs. 25 Lakh to the victim girl, which could be recovered from those who were responsible for the dereliction of duty and leaking of the FIR. The court added that the compensation ordered presently, would not prevent the victim from seeking compensation in the criminal cases.   

While appreciating the girl for her courage to come forward and report the incident, the court directed Anna University to provide counselling to the victim. The court added that the University should allow the victim to complete her education without collecting any fees from her including tuition fee, hostel fee, exam fee, miscellaeous fee etc. The court also directed the Director General of Police to pr9ovide interim protection to the victim and her family. 

During the course of the hearing, the court strongly criticised the Commissioner for holding a press meeting and discussing the case without getting any prior sanction from the Government. The court condemned the commissioner's act and said that no service rules or other rules permitted the same. The court remarked that such a press meeting should have been avoided and asked the government to look into the issue and take appropriate action, if necessary. 

"This court is of the opinion that the press meet of the commissioner, without obtaining prior permission from the Government would not fall under any exclusion and therefore the government has to examine and initiate action against the Commissioner, if requireed, under the relevant law," the court said.

The court also criticised the police for wording the FIR in an insensitive way which further paved way for victim blaming. The court stressed that the victim, who was only 19 years old should have been given counselling at the time of filing the FIR. The court also remarked that the FIR itself was in the nature of victim blaming portraying as if the girl's actions resulted in the incident. The court emphasised that the society should refrain from victim blaming as it ends up benfitting the perpetrators. 

"Women have always been punished for the crimes against them. Society should be ashamed of blaming womne. Why can't a woman wish to walk around freely at night, dress up the way she wants, talk to her male friends? Every man should be taught to respect women instead of teaching women how to behave. The perpetrators benefit from victim shaming and victim blaming," the court said. 

Case Title: R Varalakshmi v The Government of Tamil Nadu and Others

Case No: WP 39893 of 2024