Physiotherapist, 68, rapes 23-year-old woman, held

Coimbatore: The west all-woman police on Monday arrested a 68-year-old physiotherapist for raping a young woman at his residence at the foothills of Marudhamalai in the city in January 2023.
A police officer identified the arrested person as N Anandakrishnan, 68, of IOB Colony. "He developed a friendship with a 23-year-old woman, an architecture graduate, and they often met at a coffee shop at Race Course in 2022.In January 2023, he invited her to visit his newly constructed house at IOB Colony while his wife was away."
The young woman, a native of Theni who was residing at Ramanathapuram, accepted the invitation. "During her visit, the physiotherapist offered her a cup of coffee laced with sedatives. Anandakrishnan raped her when she was in a semiconscious state. She lodged a complaint with the Vadavalli police, who failed to conduct a thorough investigation and allegedly intimidated the complainant, who approached the National Commission for Women," the officer said.
In the meantime, Anandakrishnan attempted to resolve the matter discreetly. Nevertheless, the National Commission for Women instructed the city police to take action against the former police inspector of Vadavalli and the then assistant commissioner of police for their failure to register a first information report in connection with the rape case.
City police commissioner V Balakrishnan subsequently appointed assistant police commissioner Karikal Pari Shankar as the special investigation officer in the case. Police analyzed phone call details and locations and found that the woman had visited Anandakrishnan's residence in January 2023.
Anandakrishnan, meanwhile, went into hiding. Police traced his whereabouts to Kumily in Idukki district in Kerala. The west all-woman police registered a case against him under sections 323, 342, 376(i) and 506(ii) of the Indian Penal Code on Sunday and issued summons to Anandakrishnan.
Anandakrishnan appeared before police for questioning on Monday, when he confessed to the crime. He was later arrested and lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison under judicial custody.