Tamil Nadu: 19-year-old student abducted, assaulted near Coimbatore airport

A 19-year-old college student was allegedly abducted and sexually assaulted near Coimbatore airport late Sunday night while she was with a male friend, who was also attacked, according to police sources cited by PTI.

The survivor, a student at a private college in the city, is currently undergoing treatment in hospital. Police said the accused first assaulted her male friend, then abducted her to another location where the sexual assault took place.

“The sexual assault has taken place. The survivor is under treatment and safe. Seven special teams are searching for the suspects. We will brief you as soon as there is a breakthrough,” a senior police officer told NDTV.

Police have formed seven teams to trace the three accused.

BJP’s Annamalai targets DMK government

Reacting to the incident, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K. Annamalai accused the ruling DMK of failing to ensure women’s safety and said Chief Minister M.K. Stalin “must hang his head in shame.”

“The news of a college student being sexually assaulted by three miscreants near Coimbatore International Airport last night… is deeply shocking and heartbreaking. I pray for her speedy recovery,” he wrote on X.

Claiming that lawlessness had increased under the DMK, Annamalai said: “Since the DMK came to power, anti-social elements no longer fear the law or the police… There has been a disturbing pattern of shielding sexual offenders instead of ensuring justice.”

He further alleged that the government was “using the police to arrest critics” instead of protecting citizens, adding that Tamil Nadu was in “a state of alarming decline.”