The Madras High Court on Friday (May 29, 2026) said it was prima facie of the view that the investigation into the sexual assault and murder of a 10-year-old girl in Sulur, Coimbatore, was progressing in the right direction. Therefore, there was no need to order a court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe.
A summer vacation Bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and V. Lakshminarayanan made the oral observation during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by P. Chokalingam of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), who insisted on constituting an SIT to investigate the brutal crime.
The judges agreed with Advocate General Vijay Narayan that the police had done their best by swiftly securing two individuals in connection with the crime. The A-G said that the police were awaiting the DNA report, and that the charge sheet would be filed immediately after the receipt of the report.
The A-G also said that the investigation in the case was being monitored at the highest level and all efforts were being taken to ensure swift justice. Government Counsel (criminal side) R. John Sathyan informed the court a special public prosecutor had been appointed to conduct the trial against the accused.
After hearing them, the judges decided to dispose of the PIL petition with certain directions related to the floating of multiple theories regarding the crime on social media since the litigant had specifically complained about unverified, sensational, and prejudicial materials being circulated through print, broadcast, and social media.
In his affidavit, Mr. Chokalingam said he was the president of the North Tamil Nadu unit of VHP, who had filed many PIL petitions. He said that the 10-year-old girl, studying in Class V, had been subjected to aggravated sexual assault and murdered by her neighbour on May 21, 2026.
He said that in similar sexual offence cases, such as the 2024 Anna University student sexual assault case and the Anna Nagar minor girl sexual assault case, the courts had constituted special investigation teams comprising senior police officers, and such constitution had helped in speedy prosecution.
The litigant accused the media of having disclosed the identity of the victim, in flagrant violation of the statutory prohibition, by publishing the photographs and videos of family members and said that the State too had failed to take any action to prevent such disclosure in the public domain.
Mr. Chokalingam also said that a video of Inspector General of Police (West Zone) R.V. Ramya Bharathi sharing a lighter moment with her colleagues, before the commencement of a press conference regarding the Sulur crime, had gone viral on social media and generated widespread public outrage.
Published - May 29, 2026 01:43 pm IST
Source: The Hindu - India News
