Coimbatore (PTI): The Coimbatore Mahila court on Tuesday held all nine men arrested in the sensational Pollachi sexual assault and extortion case as guilty.
Judge R. Nandhini Devi would pronounce the quantum of punishment later in the day.
All those facing the charges have been accused of criminal conspiracy, sexual harassment, rape, gang rape, and extortion, in the series of incidents including blackmail that happened between 2016 and 2018. The victims were mostly college girls and the incident came to light after an affected student lodged a complaint with the police.
The incident caused an outrage in the state and even echoed in the state assembly. An audio clip of a purported victim also went viral, sending shock waves across the state.
While the local police initially probed the matter, it was later transferred to the CB-CID. In 2019, the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The counsel representing the CBI said the agency had sought the "highest punishment" of lifer till death.
The CBI has sought compensation for the victim women.
Among the arrested is an expelled AIADMK functionary.
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Itanagar (PTI): Eleven more bodies were retrieved on Saturday from the deep gorge in Arunachal Pradesh's Anjaw district, where a mini-truck on which 22 labourers from Assam were travelling fell, an official said.
With this, 17 bodies have been recovered from the accident site, Anjaw's deputy commissioner Milo Kojin said.
He said three more bodies will be brought out on Sunday.
The operation, being conducted by a joint team of the NDRF and Army, resumed at 6 am.
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"The retrieval process was extremely difficult because of the treacherous terrain, and the gorge is very deep," Kojin said.
The operation was suspended around 4 pm due to low visibility and will be resumed on Sunday morning, he said.
"One person is still missing, and a search operation will be carried out tomorrow," he added.
The accident happened on the evening of December 8, around 40 km from Hayuliang towards Chaglagam in the district. On the evening of December 10, one survivor managed to climb out of the gorge and reach a nearby Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) labour camp, following which the authorities were alerted.
Six bodies were recovered from the gorge on Friday and handed over to their families on Saturday.
