BATTLEFIELD

NOTE: I have done a lots of research in order to write this story. I have based it from real life incidents from Pollachi. Additionally, I was inspired from my own friend's relative, who have been a victim of this rape incidents. Being requested to write this story. I eventually accepted to write this story inspite of my reading career.

This had been written in order to create an awareness about the importance of women and their safety. It's not written to hurt any people...it's written to create an awareness among the people.

"Silence is connivance.. Connivance is betrayal.. Betrayal is sin.. Sin is a punishable offence, which means, Bheeshmacharya, to remain silent when there's a need to speak and question the King is like being in connivance with the King in his crime." This is one of the quotes, told by Lord Krishna about Betrayal in Bhagavad Gita.

This world would dare to do anything for the sake of money, for the sake of happiness and for the sake of anything. In this kind of worst world, good people never have the way to lead a peaceful and happy life. They would get intruded by evil.

Comes one such guy called Aravinth. He is hailing from a middle-class family in Pollachi, consisting of his father Gunasekhar, mother Rani and his younger sister Priya. He works as a software engineer to an MNC company in Coimbatore.

Working as an Engineer is a tough task for Aravinth. Because, they never let him go easy being an MNC company. He have to work for more than three to four days in the company. His close friend Nikhil's work as a Civil Engineer too is like such. They both are close friends since childhood.

While returning from Ukkadam to their house back in the car, Aravinth meets a girl, wearing black salwaar with a white face and steel-rimmed spectacles. She had been intruded by a few goons. They misbehaved with her and spoke ill about her body.

Aravinth beats them up and tells them that, "Women are not to be harmed with offending words. As they gave birth to this world, through women only..."

This impressed that girl and she introduces herself as Janani. Days after, they continue to meet in the same place. She is working as a trainee in an IT company at Malumichampatti. Slowly, they become good friends. Janani gets introduced to the family of Aravinth and gets well acquainted with them.

Days later, Janani tells Akhil that, "She hailed from a rich background in Thippampatti. Her father is a successful businessman. She had had asked by him to explore the world and the humans. Since, she have to take his business to the next level.

She agreed and proceeded to do the task, given to her. At that time she met him and fell in love with Aravinth. He accepts and speaks with her father about their love. He gives hand their marriage and the engagement gets fixed.

Aravinth gets a contract to finish in USA, which worth 5 lakhs. He agrees and goes there for three months. After finishing the work successfully and getting Five lakhs, Aravinth comes back to India, where he further gets a rebumeration of 3 lakhs from his company for his dedicated works.

Aravinth goes with Nikhil to Janani's house. There, he told her father, "Uncle. I have to meet Janani. And show her my earnings."

He is silent and moves a little. Aravinth is shocked to see that, Janani is dead. When being asked about the reasons he falsely told that, she committed suicide out of stress in IT company.

Aravinth is left hijacked and heartbroken due to Janani's death. He meets ACP Bhadra, who first handled the case of Janani. He tells him that, "She committed suicide by hanging herself. Even the post mortem report is telling like such only."

Aravinth doubts his answers and henceforth meets Doctor Radha Krishnan, who handled the postmortem report. Unable to hold the guilt, Doctor unveils the truth, which he was forced to hide. He examined her body to find out that, "Janani was raped by a few people before she hanged herself to death."

He is shocked to learn this and henceforth, angrily kidnaps ACP Bhadra, with the help of his family. He brings him to a secluded place in Anaimalai, where Aravinth severely beats him up to reveal the truth.

"Aravinth. Don't beat me up da. I didn't do anything knowingly. I was forced to do like such." Bhadra said, unable to bear the pain.of beatings.

"Who were all responsible for this rape da?" asked Aravinth.

"The MLA's two sons: Rajesh and Ramesh, few rich person: Sabari, Arasu, Kumar" said Bhadra. Further, he says that, Aravinth's own friend Nikhil was also involved in the rape of Janani. Though he is unable to believe that first, he later confirms his doubts. Aravint further learns that, the guys threatened IPS officer's family and henceforth was forced to do what they said.

Aravinth beats up the MLA, his two sons and the three guys, getting them injured in addition. He covers them up in a racket and Nikhil meets him, not knowing that, Aravinth learnt the truth.

He berates Aravinth for planning to kill them, instead of handing them to police. But, Aravinth tells him that, he knew the truth that, "He too is involved in the rape of Janani through the ACP."

He unveils the incidents told by Bhadra. Janani was returning to her house from IT company, after her works have been finished. At that time, Nikhil called her and told her to come for his house to attend a party. However, he have brought those guys to rape her. There, they raped her and took video clip of it. Unable to bear the humiliation, Janani killed herself. To Save the family honour and reputation, her father stood away, being blackmailed by them.

Aravinth beats up Nikhil severely for betraying him. After beating him and getting him injured, Aravinth additionally tells him: "I have further learned several shocking truth about you all da...Bhadra sir took me to that MLA's house and showed the computer, consisting of your video clips about raping several women. If I leave you, you would spoil several women's life."

Aravinth beheads them all with his sword telling them, "If law is severe like this, no one would dare to touch a women. They would fear a lot. It's possible only in countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia."

It's video tapped by Bhadra and gets released in YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. From all the sites, Aravinth is praised by family, women and men for giving severe punishments to the rapists. Then, Janani's and Aravinth's family comes to meet Aravinth in the prison. They give praise for him and asks him not to worry about punishments.

Later, Bhadra appoints an advocate in order to bail out Aravinth. He gets produced in the court, where the public prosecutor tells: "Aravinth should be punished severely for taking the law in his own hands and killing the people, including MLA."

But, Aravinth's lawyer objects his statement and he tells: "What Aravinth did is a crime only, my lord! But, before that, let's see the cruel activities of those guys." He gives a pendrive and laptop to the judge and asks him to look into that. It's a full detail about the crime, collected by Aravinth and Bhadra respectively, guided by Aravinth's lawyer.

It showcases a 19-year old college student Priya(Dated February 12, 2019). She was called by Sabari, who told her that he wanted to discuss something important with her alone. Sabarirajan, who also goes by the name Riswandh, asked Priya to meet him at a bus stop in Pollachi, and when Priya reached there in the afternoon, Sabarirajan was standing near a car along with his friend Thirunavukkarasu, another acquaintance of Priya. The duo asked her to get into the car with them, and said they would talk on the way. While Thirunavukkarasu started the car, Sabarirajan was sitting in the back seat with Priya. And suddenly, two more men – Arasu and Kumar – got in. The four of them forcefully disrobed Priya and shot a video, and snatched a gold chain she was wearing. They threatened her that if she did not do as they said, and provide them with sexual favours and money when they demanded it, they would upload the video on the internet. When she screamed and cried, they left her in the middle of the road and drove away.

Upset and scared, Priya did not reveal the incident to her family. But when the men blackmailed her and tried to extort money from her multiple times, Priya decided to take her family into confidence.

Her brother Subhash (name changed) then tracked down Arasu and Sabari, beat them up, and unearthed what is perhaps an elaborate and scary sexual violence and extortion racket. Subhash and his friends got hold of Arasu and Sabari's cell phones, which contained videos of at least three other women that the men may have blackmailed. The family submitted this to the Pollachi police, along with a complaint of sexual harassment and robbery.

The police have filed an FIR on February 24 against Sabari, Arasu, Nikhil and Kumar under sections 354A (sexual harassment), 354B (assault or use of criminal force against woman with intent to disrobe), and 394 (robbery) of the IPC; section 66E of the IT Act (violation of privacy); and section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Sexual Harassment of Women Act (sexual harassment). But they escaped from the punishments, using the influences.

Priya's ordeal and the phones collected from the four accused has revealed a massive racket run by the four men, and allegedly several other men – and the police is looking into who the perpetrators of these crimes are. They have asked other victims to come forward with their experiences with these men.

TNM has learned some details of the modus operandi of these men was. One of them – usually Sabarirajan alias Riswandh – would lure women to a secluded house or hotel, and either force himself on them or convince them to have sex.

All the while, his accomplices – hidden from view – would shoot the act on a camera.

If it was a sexual assault, one of the accomplices would barge in and pretend to be a saviour, while the other men continued to shoot the video. At least one such video of a young woman who was sexually assaulted by Riswandh (alias Sabarirajan) has been released by a Tamil magazine. TNM will not share the video, or other videos that are circulating.

In the videos that the men have shot, the young women can be heard naming Riswandh (alias Sabarirajan) multiple times. In one of these videos, Thirunavukkarasu can be clearly seen.

Thirunavukkarasu

In another video, Sathish can be seen in a sexual act, and he has left the door open for his friends to shoot the act.

In another video, Riswandh shoots a woman and continuously asks her whether she would meet him the next day. The police say such videos were used to blackmail for money or sexual favours.

If the sex was consensual, the men would threaten to upload the videos on the internet or circulate them through WhatsApp, unless the women gave them sexual favours, along with money and other valuables. In all the videos, it is clear that the door of the room was kept open so other members of the gang could take pictures and shoot videos.

How many victims?

The lawyer of the survivor told TNM that they have recovered three videos from the cell phones they seized from two of the men. While there are media reports and estimates that there are anywhere between 50 and 200 victims of this racket, there is no confirmation of any such number so far. However, at least six women are there in the videos that have leaked now, only Forensic department can recover the rest.

In an audio message that one of the accused Thirunavukkarasu released, he says that a false case has been foisted on him – but also suggests that '99 other women' were willing participants.

The case of assault of victim's brother

Priya and her family filed a complaint and the police registered an FIR on February 24, 2019. On February 25, Subhash was assaulted by four men – allegedly friends of Thirunavukkarasu and Sabarirajan. Senthil, Babu, Mani and Vasanthkumar beat up Subhash for filing a complaint against Thirunavukkarasu, and allegedly threatened that if anything were to happen to these men, Subhash will not be alive.

An FIR was registered by the Pollachi police in this case, under section 341, 294(b), 323, 324, and 506(2) of the IPC.

The Pollachi police added the name of a fifth person – 'Bar' Nagaraj, an AIADMK functionary who has now been expelled by the party – in the FIR.

All five men are out on bail and that's why Aravinth beheaded them severely.

Who are the four accused

Sabarirajan alias Riswandh is a 25-year-old civil engineer in Pollachi. Thirunavukkarasu is a 26-year-old financier. Vasanthakumar works for Thirunavukkarasu to collect money from clients. Sathish is the owner of a readymade garments shop in Pollachi.

Politics over sexual violence

While the case was registered in late February, and TNM reported about the arrests on February 27, the incident has become politicised in the last few days.

The AIADMK has been criticised for the alleged involvement of Nagaraj in the saga, with some media reports suggesting that the rot runs higher up in the party. Tamil Magazine Nakkheeran's editor Nakkheeran Gopal, in a video, alleged the involvement of Tamil Nadu Deputy Speaker Pollachi Jayaraman's sons in the sexual abuse and extortion racket. However, Nakkheeran has not given any evidence of their involvement, or how they are allegedly linked to the accused in the case.

While Jayaraman himself has denied allegations, the survivor, Priya, and her brother Subhash have released statements where they said that it was Jayaraman who in fact has supported them from the beginning. In an audio statement, Priya said that her family approached Jayaraman through a family friend, and he has been helpful with filing the complaint and taking the case forward.

Subhash meanwhile released a video statement where his face is not visible, where he has linked the politicisation of the case with the announcement of Lok Sabha election dates.

Meanwhile, opposition party DMK held a rally in Pollachi on Tuesday demanding action against the accused. Speaking at the rally, DMK MP Kanimozhi said, "Many of them are saying we are politicising the issue. Nobody wants to politicise this. But if the government acts only after the matter becomes politicised, then what else can be done?"

Revealing identity of victim, circulating videos

While the survivor and her family have maintained that the police is helping them in the case, Pollachi Superintendent of Police Pandiarajan revealed the survivor's name in a press meet, against every law to protect the identity of the victim.

"The name of the survivor in this case was revealed only to silence the other women and prevent them from coming out in the open and complaining," Kanimozhi alleged at the DMK rally on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, several videos of victims are doing the rounds on WhatsApp, with no consideration for the victims' consent or mental health. These videos were allegedly on the phones seized from the four accused – two of the phones were retrieved by the survivor's brother while the other two were seized by the police.

Later, Aravinth's advocate submits another evidence to the judge. But that's a poisonous insect, which he kills by using a rod.

"What are you trying to do, man?" asked the angry judge.

"Why did you kill that insect sir? Because, you feared that it would kill you. The same thing only Aravinth have done sir. He killed those four guys for spoiling the life of various women. What's wrong in that sir? Have we ever severed the law of our country sir? If our law is severe, then why should he kill them for protecting women sir. Every women's life is like a Battlefield even after independence sir. They are tortured in various ways. Subjected to domestic violence, asked for dowry and asked for wealth. What's more sir! In which society we live" said the Lawyer.

After a while, he apologizes to the court and tells, "When a women clearly say no, it means no sir. The word itself have everything in it. Whether it may be a sex worker, it may be a wife, it may be a lover, when she says no for something, it means no sir. Rest all is with you sir...hope, you would give a good judgment."

"Are you having anything to say regarding this sir?" The judge asked towards the opposition lawyer, who is now blank and confused.

"I admit myself, your honour. I told as per the reports, submitted by the government." The lawyer said clearly.

"As per the arguments, what Aravinth did is justifiable. He have done a good deed by killing the cruel rapists. In our country, followed by Nirbaya Rape case, Hyderabad Assault, this Pollachi Rape case have also become a sensational one against women. Three crimes are really horrible and heartbreaking. Various women have been affected due to these crimes. Government should initiate action for passing severe laws in order to protect the women. Aravinth is released without any charges." The judge tells and leaves from the court.

Aravinth is praised by everyone for killing those rapists and he tells them, "Stop praising me guys. Kindly stop. You all praised me for killing them. But, what steps did you all take to protect women? The main mistake have been done by our parents. They failed to teach boys regarding, how to behave well with girls. Myself, I reacted to these things, only when my lover died in their hands. Instead of being selfish, we should be vigilante and raise questions against all these atrocities. Not to heap praise on me, as I killed them..."

People realizes their mistakes and joins hand together. Aravinth proceeds to join his family, while he notices a reflection of Janani smiling at him.

EPILOGUE:

Life is like a Battlefield for women. They have to face a lots of challenges. Like Pollachi Incidents, there are lots and lots of rape and sexual harassment, which remains unrevealed to the public, due to the few political influences and money, which rules the society.