The Tamil Nadu government has informed the Madras High Court that it plans to frame detailed guidelines to prevent sexual offences against women and children.
The submission came during a hearing linked to the Sulur case in Coimbatore district, where a 10-year-old girl was abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered. Police have arrested Karthik and others in connection with the incident.
A public interest petition filed by VHP North Tamil Nadu president P. Sokkalingam sought the formation of a Special Investigation Team comprising senior police officers for an “independent and transparent” probe, and also requested a restraint on publishing news related to the case.
Appearing for the state, Advocate General Vijay Narayan described the incident as horrific and said that despite strong policing, such crimes cannot always be prevented. He said the government is giving special focus to crimes against children and has approached the US-based Instagram company to remove videos circulating on social media, noting that the process could take at least seven days.
The bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and V. Lakshminarayanan observed that the court cannot dictate how the police should conduct an investigation, and noted that the probe was proceeding on the right track. The judges said a detailed order would be passed on the petition.
