KRISHNAGIRI: Four more persons, including the main suspect, have been arrested in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a class 8 girl during an unauthorised NCC camp at a private school near Bargur.
Those arrested include A Sivaraman (28) of Kaveripattinam, the main suspect, and his friends – R Srinivasan (27) of Dharmapuri and A Murali (30) of Kaveripattinam – and A Gomathi (52), a private school teacher, of Kandikuppam near Bargur.
Four special teams were formed to nab Sivaraman, who was on the run. He was arrested near Krishnagiri in the wee hours of Monday. When he tried to escape from the police, he allegedly landed in a pit and broke his right leg. He was admitted to Government Krishnagiri Medical College Hospital for treatment.
Sources said Murali and Srinivasan had helped Sivaraman evade arrest. They were arrested on Monday afternoon and Gomathi was arrested on Sunday night.
It was from August 5 to 9 that a six-member team headed by Sivaraman, a former Naam Tamilar Katchi functionary, conducted the NCC camp without prior permission from NCC and the school education department.
A total of 41 students, including 17 girls took part in the camp. During the camp, he allegedly sexually assaulted the 13- year- old class 8 girl and allegedly sexually harassed 12 more girls.
On Sunday, police arrested seven persons, including the school correspondent, principal and a teacher.
Krishnagiri Collector KM Sarayu told reporters that they are inquiring into how many such unauthorised NCC camps were conducted by Sivaraman. “Counseling will be given to parents and children who are affected in this incident. Also, people can contact child helpline 1098 for any child-related complaints. Alternative arrangements will be made for children who are willing to get transferred to other school,” she said, adding the private school at Bargur was closed on Monday and Tuesday, and it will be opened on Wednesday.
Sources added that the team has conducted such unauthorised NCC camps in five schools and colleges in Krishnagiri, and Dharmapuri districts.
Over 300 police personnel were deployed near Bargur, Kandikuppam, and Krishnagiri to prevent any untoward incidents.
Fake NCC camp
Press Information Bureau (Defence Wing), on Monday, released a statement about the fake National Cadet Corps (NCC) camp. It pointed out, “The alleged sexual harassment incident was not reported in any schools enrolled or registered with NCC. The person involved in the alleged incident has no connection with NCC,” the statement said.