Chennai: Perhaps for the first time, a rape survivor appeared before a Chennai court, narrated the chain of events and made a powerful case for denying bail to the accused. Besides creating a buzz in legal circles, she also managed to convince the court to reject the bail plea of the suspect. “This indeed is a special case,” said activist-advocate Sudha Ramalingam. The survivor, instead of getting weighed down and frustrated, channelled her anger in the right manner, she said, adding: “It shows that there is a sense of empowerment among rape victims to oppose and fight perpetrators of the crimes.”
“As a prime witness in the case, the survivor has every right to intervene and oppose the bail plea of the accused. Normally, rape survivors don't approach the court in person to oppose bail plea, as they fear exposing their identity,” said advocate and criminal law specialist S Elam Bharathi.
The matter pertains to Shanthi (name changed), 21, who filed a complaint against D Suresh at All-Woman Police Station, Vepery. According to the prosecution, Suresh of Teynampet was a school dropout and worked as an errand boy. Shanthi, a commerce graduate working in a private company, was planning to open a savings bank account. Suresh came to know of it and posed as a bank employee and collected her application. For several months, Suresh called her over the phone. Eventually, they became friends and went to a movie and visited few restaurants together. He had asked Shanthi to visit his home but she refused. Finally, Suresh cajoled her to come to his residence. He then had forcible sex with her and recorded it on his mobile phone, too. Suresh started blackmailing her that he would upload the video clip on the internet if Shanthi did not oblige him. He then raped her on several occasions.
At one stage, when she became pregnant as well, Shanthi approached the police. An FIR was filed under Sections 417 (cheating), 376 (punishment for rape) and 506-II (criminal intimidation). Suresh was arrested on February 25. He then filed an application for bail stating he was innocent and was ready to marry Shanthi.
