Tamil Nadu: Mayiladuthurai District Collector transferred over controversial remarks

Tiruvalluvarandu (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 1 (ANI): Mayiladuthurai District Collector, AP Mahabharathi, has been transferred following his controversial remarks in the case of the sexual assault of a minor girl.
The officer had reportedly blamed the 3-year-old victim for provoking the accused. HS Srikanth has been appointed as the new District Collector of Mayiladuthurai.
The notice reads, " HS Srikanth, EAP, Commissioner, Erode Corporation has been transferred as Mayiladuthurai District Collector by AP Mahabharati and Eabha are appointed in their stead."
Delhi's Tis Hazari court awarded death penalty to a rape and murder convict on Friday and handed life imprisonment to his father, who was also involved with him in the crime.
The court considered the case as the 'rarest of rare' cases and said that for the punishable offence under section 376-AB of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), convict Rajender alias Satish, is sentenced to death, and he shall be hanged by the neck till he is dead, subject to confirmation by the High Court of Delhi.
"It is a rarest of rare cases and for the offence punishable under section 376-AB IPC- he is sentenced to death and he shall be hanged by neck till he is dead subject to confirmation by the High Court of Delhi", the court ordered on Friday, the court said in its order on Friday.
Special judge (POCSO) Babita Puniya awarded the death penalty to man who was convicted for raping and brutally murdering a 7 year-old girl in Nihal Vihar area in 2019.
"I am of the view that if leniency is shown to the convict, the court would be failing in its duty towards the victim and society at large which demands stringent punishment who commit such heinous crimes," Special Judge Babita Puniya said.
"Convict killed the innocent child without any compunction as if she was not worthy of living anymore. She also had the right to bloom like a flower in a safe environment, which we as a society failed to provide her," special judge Puniya said in the order of sentence.
The court awarded a life sentence to the father, Ramsaran, stating, "I am of the view that his case does not fit in the bracket of 'rarest of rare cases'. He was not present when his son kidnapped the deceased victim and brought her to his house."
"However, he does not deserve any leniency as he participated in the commission of gruesome murder of an innocent defenseless child to wipe out the evidence of rape committed by his son," the court further said.
The judge referred to story and said, "I feel like citing this story because if the father had scolded his son for the first offence, instead of finding ways to save him, then it would have had a deterrent effect on his subsequent crime. He probably wouldn't have committed the next crime.
"But instead of showing him the right path, he tried to hide his son's misdeeds and ended up murdering a seven-year-old defenseless child," the court pointed out.
The court convicted the father-son duo on February 24, 2025. Dr Sharawan Kumar Bishnoi, Special Public Prosecutor, appeared for the State; RR Jha, legal aid counsel for the convict son; Anil Kumar Jha appeared for the father; Anshul Pratap Singh, legal aid counsel, appeared for the complainant; and Dr. Shivani Gambhir appeared for DCW. (ANI)