A senior police officer in Chennai, holding the rank of Joint Commissioner, has been suspended following a sexual harassment complaint by a woman traffic police constable. The senior police officer reportedly identified as D Mahesh Kumar is under investigation following the initiation of an internal inquiry. The case is being managed by the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC).

According to a report by The Times of India, the complainant filed a grievance with Director General of Police (DGP) Shankar Jiwal, which led to Kumar’s suspension. The matter has been forwarded to the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) on sexual harassment, chaired by senior IPS officer Seema Agarwal, for a thorough investigation and the potential filing of cases. 

Kumar, a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) officer, was assigned to Traffic-South until December before being reassigned to Traffic-North.

In recent weeks, Tamil Nadu has been grappling with a disturbing surge in sexual assault cases, spanning various sectors, including government institutions, educational campuses, and public spaces.

The state has witnessed several high-profile and deeply troubling incidents, from the arrest of three teachers at a state-run school for allegedly assaulting a 13-year-old student, to a violent attack on a woman student at Chennai's Anna University.

These incidents are part of a broader pattern of growing violence, with recent cases involving a traffic policeman and a horrific assault on an 18-year-old woman in a moving auto-rickshaw.

In another high-profile case, former IGP S Murugan is facing serious allegations related to making sexually suggestive remarks. Murugan, a 1997-batch Group-1 officer, has been accused by a woman SP of making lewd comments over a span of time, specifically between 2017 and 2018. 

Amid series of sexual assault cases in the southern state, Tamil Nadu Law Minister S Regupathy said, "Survivors have confidence in our government and (that is why) they complain... with courage (knowing we will) bring perpetrators to book.”