2 Tamil Nadu cops stopped vehicle for routine check, raped occupant while her relative was forced to stand by

The suspects, identified as constables Suresh Raj and Sundar, were on night patrol duty late Monday when they stopped a goods-laden vehicle travelling from Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh.

Written by Arun Janardhanan

Chennai | Updated: October 2, 2025 05:25 AM IST

3 min read

According to police, the woman and her mother were on their way to offer prayers at the Arulmigu Arunachaleswarar Temple on Monday evening in a cargo vehicle. (Source: File)

Two police constables posted at the Tiruvannamalai East Police Station were arrested and suspended this week after being accused of abducting and raping a young woman from Andhra Pradesh near the Endal bypass road in Tiruvannamalai, a temple town south of Chennai.

The suspects, identified as constables Suresh Raj and Sundar, were on night patrol duty late Monday when they stopped a goods-laden vehicle travelling from Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh.

The vehicle carried two women, who are related and were on their way to the Arunachaleshwar Temple, one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in the state. According to investigators, the policemen ordered the women to step down for a “routine vehicle check.” They then allegedly forcibly separated the younger woman, dragged her to a nearby grove, and raped her. The assault allegedly took place in the presence of the other woman.

Around 4 am Tuesday, the constables abandoned the women along the roadside. Workers from a nearby brick kiln and local residents found them and alerted the state’s 108 ambulance service. The survivor was taken to the Tiruvannamalai Government General Hospital, where doctors confirmed she had been sexually assaulted. Police at the Tiruvannamalai All Women Police Station recorded her statement, registered a case of abduction and gang rape, and arrested the constables within hours.

Both men were produced before a local court and remanded to judicial custody in Vellore Central Prison. Officials said they had been suspended from service pending a full inquiry. Senior police officers, including G Dharmarajan, DIG of the Vellore Range, and Tiruvannamalai Superintendent of Police M Sudhakar, visited the site and ordered an internal probe.

“This is horrific – the pinnacle of the collapse of women’s safety in the state,” said Edappadi K Palaniswami, leader of the opposition AIADMK. “What answer does this puppet Chief Minister have for such an atrocity, committed not by criminals on the street, but by the very officers entrusted with protecting women? The DMK government must hang its head in shame,” he said.

A statement issued by the AIADMK, citing the Tiruvannamalai assault, said this was not an isolated case. In the past nine months alone, the party said, police personnel had been accused in at least 19 sexual offence cases across Tamil Nadu. “Instead of ensuring safety, the force sworn to protect women has itself become a source of terror,” the statement said, demanding that Chief Minister M K Stalin, who oversees the Home Department, be held accountable.

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K Annamalai, former Tamil Nadu BJP chief, voiced similar outrage. “The law and order in Tamil Nadu has deteriorated to such an extent that even police officers are engaging in sexual assaults, leaving women to live in an unsafe environment,” he said in a statement. “Chief Minister M K Stalin, who heads the Home department, should hang his head in shame.”

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