Charges framed against retired IG Murugan in sexual harassment case

The XI Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Chennai has framed charges against retired Tamil Nadu Inspector General of Police S. Murugan in a case of sexual harassment filed by his former colleague.

According to the prosecution, when Murugan was serving as Joint Director in the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) in Chennai in August 2018, he allegedly sexually harassed a woman SP-level officer. She lodged a complaint against him, which was referred to the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), and a criminal case was registered by the Cyber Crime Cell of CB-CID. The charge sheet was filed against Murugan last year.

The State government had allowed him to retire from service on the date of his superannuation, without prejudice to the pending judicial and disciplinary proceedings against him.

When the court recently took up the matter for framing charges against him, he failed to appear. The court, therefore, issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against him last Friday (November 22, 2024).

On Monday (November 25, 2024), the retired officer surrendered before XI Metropolitan Magistrate N. Sultan Aribeen, who allowed his petition to recall the NBW. He then proceeded with the framing of charges against Murugan.

The magistrate read out the charges against him one by one, and the accused denied all of them. The court framed charges against him under Sections 342 (wrongful confinement) and 354 (assault or use of criminal force against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act.

After framing the charges, the magistrate adjourned the case for trial and also ordered the issuance of summons to three witnesses to appear on December 26.