National SC ST commission issues notice to IIT Madras on Sexual Abuse Case

The government of Tamil Nadu has transferred the IIT Madras sexual abuse case to the Crime Branch - Crime Investigation Department (CB-CID) for further investigation.

IIT Madras Sexual Abuse Case

IIT Madras Sexual Abuse Case: National SC-ST Commission has issued notice to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras on the complaint of sexual assault lodged by a 30-year-old PhD scholar residing at the technology institute in 2021.

Meanwhile, the government of Tamil Nadu has transferred the IIT Madras sexual abuse case to the Crime Branch - Crime Investigation Department (CB-CID) for further investigation. The transfer took place nearly one year after the complaint was lodged and there was little action taken by the state police department.

What is IIT Madras Sexual Abuse Case?

According to the case registered, a research scholar at IIT Madras was allegedly sexually abused by a co-scholar and seven others between 2016 and 2020. The scholar later filed a complaint in Mylapore in Chennai in March 2020. An FIR was registered almost after three months of filing the complaint against eight persons.

As per her complaint, her fellow scholar Kingshuk Debsharma sexually abused her, took pictures of her and used them to blackmail her for a period of four years. Recently, seeking justice, the survivor sought the help of Suganthi, State General Secretary of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA. Following this, the city police added rape charges and sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to the FIR, which had earlier been omitted. The main accused in the case was arrested by the Tamil Nadu police last month. However, the prime accused Kingshuk was able to get bail, and he also skipped the summons issued to him citing health reasons.

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