Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), March 7 The Coimbatore district Women's Court on Saturday found three men guilty of sexually assaulting a college student near the airport here and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
The three men, arrested in connection with the crime in November 2025, were identified as T Karuppusamy alias Sathees (30) of Sivaganga district, his brother T Kaleeswaran alias Karthik (21), and their relative M Guna alias Thavasi (20) of Madurai district.
The incident had earlier triggered outrage, with various political party leaders strongly condemning the incident and demanding strict action against the perpetrators. Chief Minister M K Stalin had described the incident as inhumane and stated that no amount of strong words could adequately condemn it.
The trial was completed within two months of filing a 350-page chargesheet on January 8, 2026, and 126 days after the college student was sexually assaulted by the trio at an isolated spot near the city airport after attacking her male friend, who later registered a complaint with the police.
The prosecution examined 72 witnesses, including the two victims of the violence, their family members, friends, police officers, and also examined CCTV footage and DNA experts.
Special public prosecutor B Jisha, who concluded the arguments on February 24, sought the maximum punishment for the accused. The defence arguments were heard on February 27.
The crime took place on the night of November 2 and 3, 2025.
Delivering the verdict, Judge V Sundararaj stated that the prosecution has proven the case beyond doubt and ordered a compensation of Rs 7 lakh to the victim.
The judge pronounced the sentence after finding the three men guilty.
The Peelamedu police apprehended the three on November 3 after shooting them in the legs.