NAGAPATTINAM: A 40-year-old widowed woman labourer was allegedly raped by two local youth in a temple near Nagapattinam on Wednesday night.
According to the Police, the suspects were arrested on Thursday night and investigations are underway.
"The woman knew the suspects as they are from the localities nearby. We learnt that they had been catcalling and harassing her for a while. They abducted her on Wednesday night when she was on her way to her sister's house in Velipalayam. They took her to a temple and sexually assaulted her," said Nagapattinam Superintendent of Police Om Prakash Meena to The New Indian Express.
The suspects have been identified as 25-year-old M Arun Raj from Vanipettai Theru and 24-year-old K Anand from Akkaraikulam, in Nagapattinam. They are both labourers.
According to sources, the woman hails from a village near Vedaranyam. She had lost her husband a couple of years ago. She moved to Nagapattinam with her two daughters post the impact of Gaja Cyclone.
The woman was staying in a rented house in Velipalayam and started working as a construction worker. As She started staying and sleeping at her sister's house as soon as the youth stated harassing her.
The woman was on her way to her sister's house on Wednesday, around 9.00 pm, when Arun Raj and Anand blocked her way and hit her.
They gagged her before she could raise an alarm, took her to a Ganesh temple nearby and sexually assaulted her.
The woman gave them the earnings she was wearing and allegedly begged them to let her go. But they tortured her for about five hours.
She is currently undergoing treatment in Nagapattinam Government General Hospital.
The woman alleged that the youth threatened her and her sister’s family if she went to the police and filed any complains. Arun Raj and Anand were arrested later that night.
Police Inspector P Thiyagarajan from Velipalayam Police Station, who is investigating the case, said, "We have booked the suspects under IPC section 376 (rape), 363 (abduction) and 506 (criminal intimidation). We have taken confessions from them. We will produce them before a magistrate for remanding to custody. Further investigations are underway.”