Anti-Sterlite activist Mugilan arrested under rape charges

Environmental activist T Mugilan alias Shanmugam, who was found on Saturday (July 6) from Tirupati four months after he went missing, has been charged with rape.

The complaint has been filed by a woman from Kulithalai in Karur district. In the complaint, she said Mugilan sexually abused her whenever she accompanied him to various protests across the state.

Tamil Nadu police registered a case against Mugilan under sections 376 (rape) and 417 (cheating) of the IPC and section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Woman Harrassment Act, 2002.

He was brought from Andhra Pradesh a day after he was detained by cops in Tirupati railway station. Mugilan was reported missing since February after he held a press conference related to the police firing on anti-Sterlite protesters in Thoothukudi in which 13 people were killed.

At the presser, the activist had released documents which alleged that the firing was orchestrated by some top police officials. Later that day, he boarded a train to Madurai and disappeared mysteriously.

Several cases were registered to find him. Amidst this, a case of rape was also filed by the 37-year-old woman from Kulithalai.

It was reported that the activist went into hiding due to the rape case, but his friends denied the allegation.