CHENNAI: In what can be seen as a major flaw in the investigation into the rape of a minor girl ten years ago, it was found that the accused had given the name of his elder brother to the police during the arrest and, subsequently, to the court. As his identity proof, the accused, Dharmalingam (32), had submitted a copy of a passport that he obtained in 2009 by using the school transfer certificate of his brother, Madhavan (36).
According to police, Dharmalingam was arrested in 2012 on the charges of raping a 16-year-old girl. He, however, went absconding after coming out on bail in 2016 and a Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) was issued against him.
When the Washermenpet police, led by Inspector Franwin Dani, went in search of the accused to execute the NBW, they ended up securing Madhavan from Pallikaranai. Madhavan informed the police personnel that it was not him, but his younger brother Dharmalingam who was arrested by police in 2012. The police then traced Dharmalingam, a Pudukottai native, to a house in Hosur and arrested him. The rape victim identified him at the station.
Inspector Franwin Dani said that, in 2009, Dharmaligam, who had completed Class 10, obtained a passport in the name of Madhavan using the latter's Class 12 certificate to go abroad. Madhavan, however, was not aware of it.
The same year, Dharmaligam went to Singapore to work as a heavy-vehicles driver, leaving his wife and child back home. When he returned to Tamil Nadu in 2012, however, he married another woman and stayed at a house in Korukkupet. His second wife knows him only by his identity as Madhavan.
This is where he befriended the minor girl using the name Tharun, which is in fact the name of his son from his first marriage. When police arrested Dharmalingam in 2012, the only document he had was his a copy of the passport, on which his name was recorded as Madhavan.
As he hadn't blocked his passport, Dharmalingam flew back to Singapore after coming out on bail. Another flaw in the investigation was that the police did not issue a lookout notice to airports. Dharmalingam has now been booked under six different sections of the IPC. He was later remanded in judicial custody.