The nine accused in the Pollachi sexual assault case were given copies of the statements of the victims here on Wednesday.
The accused were produced at the Women’s Court, Coimbatore and Sessions Judge R Nandini Devi extended their judicial custody till October 28.
In the last hearing held on October 6, the court had issued directions to provide copies of the statements of the survivors recorded under sections 161(3) and 164 of CrPC.
Court sources said copies of these statements, which were given by eight survivors to the police and magistrate, were provided to the nine accused on Wednesday.
Nine accused – N. Rishwant alias Sabarirajan (26), K. Thirunavukkarasu (28), N. Satish (30), T. Vasanthakumar (25), R. Manivannan alias Mani (31), K. The Central Bureau of Investigation has chargesheeted P. Babu alias ‘Bike’ Babu (27), Haronimus Paul (29) and M. Arunkumar (29) in the Arunanantham (34) case.
While the first five accused were brought to the court from Salem Central Jail, the rest four were brought from the district jail at Gobichettipalayam in Erode.
The police team ran into trouble after the vehicle carrying the first five accused to Salem stopped at Avinashi Road, about 11 km from the court, where family members were allowed to meet them. Pictures of the accused talking to their family members on the busy Avinashi Road were widely circulated on social media.
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