TENKASI: After two years of legal struggle and mental agony, a 22-year-old girl finally got a favourable verdict when the State Human Rights Commission’s (SHRC) on Saturday recommended criminal proceeding against the accused a police constable for sexually harassing her. In March, 2019, Deepa (name changed), a student of Government Arts College at Surandai, filed a complaint against two constables Murugesan and Saraswathi with Surandai Police Inspector Mareeswari. She accused Murugesan of sending her obscene messages and songs daily and Saraswati of abetting and helping Murugesan.
Later, she filed another complaint with the then Superintendent of Police (SP) for the combined Tirunelveli district Arun Sakthikumar. She claimed that when the duo came to know of her sexual harassment complaint, they threatened her and informed her that no action would be taken against them as they and the inspector belong to the same community — Thevar. After her complaint was published in several newspapers, the SP suspended the constables but called them back to duty after a couple of days.
According to the petition filed by Deepa before the SHRC, Murugesan forcefully collected her mobile number. When Deepa changed her number, Murugesan walked into her classroom to get her new number. Later, he snatched her cell phone at a bus stop and dialled his number from her mobile phone to get the number.
In his order, the SHRC Member-cum-Active Chairperson Jayachandran recommended criminal proceeding against Murugesan for sexually harassing the student and disciplinary action against Mareeswari for failing to perform her duty. “Considering the materials on record, this Commission is of the considered opinion that the allegations of the complainant against Murugesan is proved.
The Tamil Nadu government shall pay a compensation of Rs 75,000 to the victim within a month. The government may recover Rs 50,000 from Mareeswari and Rs 25,000 from Murugesan. Action taken against Saraswathi by the police department is sufficient,” said Jayachandran.
When contacted by TNIE, Tenkasi SP Suguna Singh said that he had sought the case records from the Tirunelveli SP office and that he would take steps after studying them and the SHRC order. Deepa, who got married a year ago and is living with her husband and child, refused to comment on this matter.
Constables also members of anti-Romeo squad
The accused constables were reportedly a part of a team formed in the district to safeguard college girls of Surandai from stalkers and rowdies. According to a report submitted by Tenkasi Deputy SP to the SP in 2019, Deepa was not the only victim; there were a few more girls.