In the Madurai Kamaraj University sex racket case, a court finds Nirmala Devi guilty.

Nirmala Devi, the main defendant in a 2018 case involving an attempt to entice female college students into providing sexual favors to Madurai Kamaraj university authorities in return for grades and financial assistance, was found guilty on Monday by the Fast Track Mahila Court in Srivilliputhur.

 

The audio recording, which seemed to show the former assistant professor at Devanga Arts college trying to entice the female students, went viral online and exposed the high-profile case. Following the case’s connection to the office of former governor Banwarilal Purohit, Raj Bhavan denied any participation.

The court found former MKU assistant professor V Murugan and former research researcher S Karuppasamy not guilty, however Nirmala Devi was found guilty. The severity of the penalty will be announced on Tuesday, April 30, according to Judge T Bagavathi Ammal. She was found guilty under five provisions, including the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, according to sources.

On April 16, 2018, Nirmala Devi, a teacher at Devanga Arts College in Aruppukottai, was taken into custody by the Aruppukottai Town police under Sections 370 and 511 of the IPC and 67 of the IT Act. This was in response to a complaint made by Ramasamy, the college secretary, who stated that four female students had told him that Nirmala had attempted to get them to perform sexual favors for MKU officials in exchange for grades and financial support.

Within a few days, the case was moved to CB-CID, and Sections 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act and Section 9 of the Immoral Traffic Act were also referenced. Murugan and Karuppasamy were also accused of being engaged in the crime and were taken into custody during the inquiry.

Tennessee will appeal the acquittal of two accused

In addition to addressing a news conference to deny the accusations made against him, Governor Purohit also established a one-man committee headed by former IAS officer R Santhanam to look into the issue and submit a report to him.

2018 saw the start of the Fast Track Mahila court trial.

Nirmala was absent from court on Friday owing to health concerns, thus the ruling was postponed until Monday by the court. Following the judge’s Monday judgment, Nirmala was taken into custody and placed under detention at Madurai Central Prison. Special public prosecutor M Chandrasekaran told reporters that the state will file an appeal against Murugan and Karuppasamy’s acquittal. He went on to say that MKU witnesses had become antagonistic.

A lone individual panel

A one-man committee was also established by former governor Banwarilal Purohit to look into the issue and submit a report to him.