Coimbatore gang-rape: survivor scaled compound wall of house for refuge

A few families living at Brindhavan Nagar near Coimbatore International Airport had come to the aid of the 20-year-old college girl, who sought refuge in one of the houses while fleeing from the three men who allegedly gang-raped her on the intervening night of November 2 and 3 on a deserted area nearby.

According to witnesses, who did not want to be identified, the girl scaled the compound wall of a house around 4 a.m. on November 3 and knocked on the front door. However, the residents were asleep and did not hear the knocks. As the calling bell did not work, she pressed the switch of a motor in a desperate move to seek support.

Seeing no response, the girl climbed the open stair to reach the terrace, from where she stepped into the verandah of the very adjacent house on the first floor.

The residents of the first floor were astounded to see a girl in distress in front of their door at an unexpected hour, seeking help. Soon, the residents of the house alerted a few neighbours, including the family residing on the ground floor to deal with the unforeseen situation.

Meanwhile, the girl came to the ground floor of the house, where she switched on a light on the porch and knocked on the door for help. Soon the neighbours, from eight families altogether, rushed to the house on the ground floor.

“The girl was in a panic state beyond words. She said she was fleeing from three persons, who assaulted her boyfriend on a vacant land nearby. The first words that came from me were ‘You are safe here. Nobody will harm you’. She wanted to speak to her mother over the phone and I gave her my phone,” said a man at the spot.

Sensing that the girl was in need of a replacement for the dress she was wearing, a woman from the neighbourhood immediately arranged one. The survivor was given water and moral support.

Hearing the ordeal of the girl, two men from the neighbourhood rushed to the vacant land off Brindhavan Nagar where her boyfriend was assaulted by the three men. They found police personnel at the place and alerted them about the girl, for whom nearly 100 policemen were combing the vacant land and adjacent deserted areas from 11.45 p.m.

The police team rushed to the house and shifted her to a nearby private hospital.