Almost a month after revealing the identity of the Pollachi case complainant to the media and public, three police officials were transferred by the Tamil Nadu government on Monday. However, no action appears to have been taken against senior Home department officials who revealed details of the complainant’s identity in a Government Order.
According to the police, the accused in the Pollachi case have videographed instances of sexual assault and harassment and used the videos to blackmail the women. Police believed there could be around 100 victims of the gang that they said had operated in the area for seven years.
The entire issue came to light when the complainant’s brother assaulted some of the accused and took their phones from them. Originally thought to have been a case of robbery, the complainant’s account said that she had been disrobed by men in a car. The men allegedly let her off after she resisted, but took her jewellery. They then allegedly attempted to blackmail her with videos of the assault.
However, once the identity of the complainant was revealed, other victims have been reluctant to come forward. More so as Pollachi is a conservative town. CB-CID sleuths currently probing the case have expressed frustration and blamed the cops for revealing the woman’s name. The single act - it is not known if it was inadvertent or intentional - has put the case in jeopardy and has ensured that women who have been harassed and assaulted allegedly by this gang will not be able to attain justice.
Worse, there is a fear that such a blatant violation will increase the distrust among survivors of such crimes- few of whom approach law enforcement to begin with - and further affect reporting of gender-based violence. While the government’s action against the cops is welcome, it is not enough. There needs to be serious effort to rebuild lost trust among the people of Pollachi and across the state.