Environmental activist T Mugilan alias Shanmugam, who was found on Saturday (July 6) from Tirupati four months after he went missing, has been charged with rape.
Environmental activist T Mugilan alias Shanmugam, who was found on Saturday (July 6) from Tirupati four months after he went missing, has been charged with rape.
The complaint has been filed by a woman from Kulithalai in Karur district. In the complaint, she said Mugilan sexually abused her whenever she accompanied him to various protests across the state.
Tamil Nadu police registered a case against Mugilan under sections 376 (rape) and 417 (cheating) of the IPC and section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Woman Harrassment Act, 2002.
He was brought from Andhra Pradesh a day after he was detained by cops in Tirupati railway station. Mugilan was reported missing since February after he held a press conference related to the police firing on anti-Sterlite protesters in Thoothukudi in which 13 people were killed.
At the presser, the activist had released documents which alleged that the firing was orchestrated by some top police officials. Later that day, he boarded a train to Madurai and disappeared mysteriously.
Several cases were registered to find him. Amidst this, a case of rape was also filed by the 37-year-old woman from Kulithalai on March 31, nearly a month after he went missing, again raising suspicions.
It was reported that the activist went into hiding due to the rape case, but people close to him and the protests have denied this allegation and have said that these have been framed on him to discredit the Sterlite killings and particularly note the timing if the allegations of rape.
Now though, it’s up to the courts to decide upon this accusation.
The complaint has been filed by a woman from Kulithalai in Karur district. In the complaint, she said Mugilan sexually abused her whenever she accompanied him to various protests across the state.
Tamil Nadu police registered a case against Mugilan under sections 376 (rape) and 417 (cheating) of the IPC and section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Woman Harrassment Act, 2002.
He was brought from Andhra Pradesh a day after he was detained by cops in Tirupati railway station. Mugilan was reported missing since February after he held a press conference related to the police firing on anti-Sterlite protesters in Thoothukudi in which 13 people were killed.
At the presser, the activist had released documents which alleged that the firing was orchestrated by some top police officials. Later that day, he boarded a train to Madurai and disappeared mysteriously.
Several cases were registered to find him. Amidst this, a case of rape was also filed by the 37-year-old woman from Kulithalai on March 31, nearly a month after he went missing, again raising suspicions.
It was reported that the activist went into hiding due to the rape case, but people close to him and the protests have denied this allegation and have said that these have been framed on him to discredit the Sterlite killings and particularly note the timing if the allegations of rape.
Now though, it’s up to the courts to decide upon this accusation.