IAS officer charged of rape denies being guilty

Admitting that he did meet Ponmani on March 10, he said the meeting lasted 15 minutes and the discussion surrounded her grievance regarding the delay in payment of salary arrears.

Kalaivanan said Ponmani had the `dubious distinction’ of being transferred three times in her career due to complaints from her students. She was also under suspension for three months from November 11 last year and joined duty recently, he added.

The issue cropped up when Ponmani, a teacher in a school for the disabled run by the Disabled Welfare Department, filed a complaint with City Police Commissioner P Kalimuthu.

In the complaint, Ponmani claimed that she met Kalaivannan with regard to her grievance at his office on March 10 and during the meeting he wanted to meet her the next day.

She waited at the specified spot in Alwarpet the next day and was picked up by Kalaivanan in a car. She was taken to a bungalow and, according to her, raped four times between 11.30 am and 7.30 pm. The IAS official later left her at a spot in Anna Nagar and she went back to Tanjavur.

Her relatives on hearing the account of the incidents, wanted her to get legal remedy. Hence, she preferred the complaint with the City Police Commissioner with the help of a women’s legal aid organisation.

On instructions from the Police Commissioner, a case has been registered with the Thousand Lights All Women’s Police Station and an FIR has been lodged. Ponmani has been sent for a complete health check by the police and further investigations are on.