Further, the court directed the state to pay ₹25 lakh as compensation to the victim over the serious lapse on the part of the police for revealing the victim’s details in the FIR published on the police website, Bar and Bench reported.
The police have also been told to protect the victim and her family.
While hearing the petition asking to transfer the investigation into the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice V Lakshminarayan highlighted various omissions in the ongoing investigation and ordered the formation of the SIT.
Noting the victim’s studies shouldn’t be affected, Anna University has been asked to not charge any fees from her in the future.
Recently, the sexual assault of a woman on the campus of the premier technical varsity sparked widespread outrage in the state as Opposition parties and civil society demanded strict action. So far, one person has been arrested by police.
Taking a serious note of the FIR, the Bench told Advocate General (AG) PS Raman, “Have you read the FIR? It is an example of victim blaming”.
Later in the order, the court noted that the “deplorable language of the FIR paves the way for victim blaming. It is shocking”.
On the leak of the FIR in the case, the court noted the same has “led to more mental agony for her”.
On the way the FIR was written, the court added, “This can’t be done by blaming or shaming her. It is misogynistic. The Constitution doesn’t differentiate between men and women and the society must feel ashamed to put down women”.
Earlier, PS Raman said the FIR leak had taken place due to technical issues. He claimed that 14 in total had gained access to the entire unmasked FIR, adding that they had tracked all of them.
However, the court refused his explanation and stated, “Your argument on the computer glitch due to the migration from IPC to BNS doesn’t hold water. BNS came into effect in July. In these five months, how many sensitive FIRs have been uploaded?”
A second-year student of Anna University was allegedly sexually assaulted by the accused on the university campus on December 23. The accused, 37-year-old Gnanasekharan, who works as a food vendor, was arrested by police from Kotturpuram.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has also set up a two-member fact-finding committee to investigate the case.
According to an official release, the committee is expected to visit Chennai on Monday (December 30) and will interact with concerned officials, the victim, her family, friends and others.
